Awakening of a Rose
by chioNightcross
Summary: Awakening in a field with no idea how you got there is never a pleasant feeling, but before the Tactician of the Shepard's, what if another group ended up in a similar situation? Team RWBY, ripped away from their world after encountering Apathy Grimm, have this happen to them. But in a world of Awakening, what path will they choose? (Sorry for bad Summary).
1. Chapter 1

**Well, so here we are with this. It was an Idea that popped into my head one day while I was at work, and I just couldn't let it get away, so I wrote, and Wrote. And just kept Writing, until I had 3 Chapters planned out already. It took me almost a week to sort through everything I wanted to keep, and also make sure that everything was a way that I wanted it, but I'll be honest, I'm still not 100% on this chapter, but my Beta Reader basically told me that it was good, so I'll take her word for it, and leave it as it is. I hope you guys enjoy this, because to be honest, I had a blast and half writing this, and once I polished it off? I'm happy with it.**

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_Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY or Fire emblem Awakening. Please support the official release for both series._

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TThe sound of birds was the first thing Ruby Rose noticed when she woke up. The sound of birds, and what felt like grass on the back of her neck, something that confused her for all of a few seconds, before she remembered what it was that was going on before she had lost consciousness in the first place. Bolting upwards, her silver eyes wildly surveyed the area she was in, seeing nothing around her that she recognized, but she did spot the familiar hair of her teammates in the grass, right next to a tree, though there was the forest not to far from them as well.

Quickly moving over to them, Ruby could feel the relief go through her at seeing they weren't injured, but that didn't stop her from trying to wake them up "Weiss! Come on Weiss, you need to get up!"

"Ruby… Just… five more minutes…" Was the mumbled words from the white haired girl.

Not deteried, the red reaper continued to shove the white haired girl "Come one Weiss, I don't know where we are, and I need you three to get up!"

The heiress in turn just swatted at Ruby's hand trying to get more comfortable on the ground so she could sleep for longer. At least, until it registered in her head that she was on the ground. Freezing in place, the Heiress's tone went cold as she spoke up "Ruby. If this is a joke, and you moved me outside while I was sleeping, I will never speak to you again."

"I'm being serious here Weiss, I don't know where we are, and the last thing I remember was the Apathy, and a bright light, and then nothing!" The red reapers words were bordering on hysterical as she spoke, something that caused a main of yellow hair to bolt upwards.

Ruby's eyes quickly found her sister, who was looking around with her eyes a bright red, the sound of her sisters voice in a panic being enough for her to react. While Ruby was grateful that her sister was still over protective enough to get up from that, it didn't help the panic the ravenette had from the lack of knowledge as to where they were, and how they got there for that matter.

Thankfully for her, Weiss had finally gotten up when hearing the real worry in her team leaders voice, blue eyes looking around with more than a hint of worry as well, a hand quickly moving to her side, what she thought was Myrtenaster being a comforting weight on her side, though she paused in dread as she noticed something else "I think we have more to worry about than just where we are, I can't feel my Aura."

"I can't either." Came the dry reply from Blake who had been woken up by the squabbling of ruby as well, a mild panic in her voice as well "I-I think none of us can."

That information alone would have been enough to induce panic in them, but Ruby took a few shuddering breaths, before speaking again "A-alright, so we don't know where we are, we can't feel our Aura, and we don't have our usual weapons." Everything she said was something that the other three had noticed as well, though all of them managed to keep themselves calm, due to Ruby, each of them having simple weapons on them, including a simple Scythe that was on her back at the moment "I don't recognize any of the landscape around us either. We can't be in Minstral."

"I… Don't think we're even in the same world Ruby." Blake said with wide eyes, even as she looked at a Bird that had landed not far from them, gaining everyone's attention.

The bird in question was a brightly colored one that none of them recognized from any book on wildlife. Blake's confusion at it was what made Ruby even consider that Blake was right. She had read a lot of books and if she didn't recognize it, that was a major problem. Sure it could have been something she hadn't read about before, but that didn't seem likely to the Reaper.

"After learning about what happened with Ozma, thousands of years ago, I guess a different world isn't so strange." Yang said with a soft tone, her eyes glued to the Bird as well, before it flew off.

Shaking her head while crossing her arms Weiss had an aggravated tone as she spoke up next "It's one thing after the other! First we learn that the Grimm are attracted to the Relic, then we learn about Ozpin, or Ozma, or whatever his name is! Now this."

Ruby wouldn't admit it, but she was getting tired of all the run around from Ozpin as well. She was too kind hearted to say anything, and even more so since the man(?) hadn't done, or said anything since they had learned. It was all just starting to wear down on her, and she was certain that the other three were getting tired of it as well. Without the Apathy affecting them, Ruby was certain they would have continued on their path one way or another, but all of them were tired of Ozpin's half truth's.

The silver eyed girl made to say something, only for the sound of someone stepping on a branch to gain her attention. Putting a hand to the scythe on her back, she looked towards the source, seeing nothing overt, but she was still wary. She could see out of the corner of her eye Blake and Weiss grabbing the hilts of their weapons in turn, with Yang taking a step in front of them, Metal Gauntlets covering her hands.

"Well, well what've we have 'ere?" A man's voice spoke up, his accent not something any of the girls could place, though the tone sent a shiver straight down Ruby's spine "Four girly's all by their lonesome? Goin' about with clothin' like tha' you've got money on ya! Hand if over 'n we won't rough ya up too much."

As soon as the man finished his sentence several other men came out of the forest, Ruby's hand going to the scythe on her back, her hand only hesitating because of the fact that if they didn't have Aura, it likely meant that the men in front of her didn't have any either. That wasn't a pleasant thought to the silver eyed reaper.

Focusing back towards the man in front of them, Ruby's eyes narrowed slightly when the man in front of her gave something akin to a pleased laugh "Well then, if ya ain't gonna give us yur gold, we'll take it off'a yur corpses!"

That was all the indication that Yang needed apparently, as she charged forward, the metal gauntlet quickly colliding with the side of an axe blade, before all hell broke loose. Ruby had barely enough time to get the scythe, not crescent rose, off of her back, before she had to jump backwards to keep herself from getting skewered by a man with a sword in his hands, the metal gleaming a color that indicated it was made of bronze.

Still, she ignored that for the time being, her hands falling into place, muscle memory taking over for placement, and the realm of her blade as it swung at the man that was attacking her. The bandit barely got out of the way of the first swing, but the second quick swing in turn got him in the left shoulder, red spurting from the wound in a way that left Ruby feeling sick to her stomach, but her body refused to stop, fight or flight instincts taking over, as she bounded backwards due to a second man, this one with a lance, coming to the aid of the first.

The young reaper could hear the clash of metal around her indicating the fighting, even as she brought her scythe up to bare once again, blocking the first strike from the spear user, but forcing herself backwards again as the one with the sword tried to capitalize on her defense to get a strike in. The Ruby felt the sting of the sword digging into her forearm, but she worked through the pain to bring up the spiked butt of her weapon, the blade catching the man with the words in the eye, causing a loud yell of pain to leave him.

The yell of pain distracted the reaper long enough for the man with the spear to catch her off guard, the blade digging into her leg, a pain filled scream tearing its way out of her throat, even as she tumbled backwards, the scythe she had in her hands quickly going up to try and help block whatever it was that could hurt her. This proved to be ineffective if the fact that the weapon was quickly batted out of her hands was any indication. The spear blade dug into her leg viciously causing her hands to go towards it, to try and get it out of her leg, her gaze quickly going up to see a sword heading in her direction, the blade unable to be blocked by anything around her.

Ruby barely heard the scream of her sister yelling her name, before everything seemingly slowed down for the girl. She could see yang, the leader of the group beaten to a pulp, lying on the ground, even as her fist collided with another man that was trying to block the blondes way as she made her way towards her sister. Blake, her golden eyes wide with horror, even as he blade separate a man's head from his shoulders, the horror more towards her then the man she just killed. Weiss with two men dead at her feet, blood staining the white clothing she wore, her blade sending another to the ground as she tried to make it to her team leader in turn.

I'm sorry guys. Her thoughts sounding in her head, even as she watched the blade continued to fall towards her head, her eyes going to close in acceptance, even as her thoughts led her to thinking of all her friends, and the things she still wished to do.

**[Play Fire Emblem: Awakening OST: ID (Hope)]**

"**Your end has come!**"

That loud exclamation was followed by the loud clang of metal against metal, forcing Ruby's eyes to open, the silver orbs staring wide eyed at the back of a man wearing blue, a white cape on his shoulder. The bandit that he ended up strike fell backwards with a shattered sword, and a new gash on his chest, one that left him unable to get up as it were.

Turning his head slightly, the blue haired man spoke up "Lissa! We've got one injured here!, Fredrick, help the others!"

"Right!" A young voice spoke up, causing Ruby, who was still clutching at her leg to look and see a blonde haired girl, her hair done up into twin tails that were quite curly "Alright, I need you to hold still for a second ok? I'll patch you right up!"

Not trusting her words at the moment, Ruby nodded, even as the blond held out a staff, the gem on it glowed a soft green color, causing a cool feeling to go through Ruby. The silver eyed girl's attention quickly shifted, however, when she heard a large crash which was followed by the words "**Pick a god and pray!**"

A large man on an equally large horse was barreling straight through the Bandits as if they were hardly anything. Still, her attention shifted again, when she heard someone slide next to them, and if the familiar feeling of arms hugging her was anything to go by, then it was her sister.

"Ruby! Oh thank god, I thought I almost lost you!" Yang spoke up, her arms being much more gentle then her hugs usually were.

Forcing herself out of the older blondes arms, Ruby spoke up, her tone showing that she thought she was going to die as well "He saved me, I-I wasn't used to the balance on the scythe, and it almost got me killed."

"Your going to need to practice with it until you get Crescent Rose back then." Her sister spoke up in turn, the relief palpable in her voice "As for you, i'm not sure exactly what your doing, but thank you for healing my sister."

The small blonde gave a bright smile as she spoke up "I'm just doing my job! Someone's gotta patch people up after all the fighting's done ya know?"

A slight laugh left Yang at the words, something that caused a smile to show up on Ruby's face, even as the older blonde spoke up again "Well, either way, thank you."

"You Dolt!" The sudden voice of Weiss, caused Ruby to flinch slightly, even as the white haired girl slide next to Yang, her face showing her displeasure, but her eyes showing relief as well, even as Blake slowly walked up to the group as well "Don't you ever do that again you hear me?! What would we have done if you died?!"

Wincing slightly at the tone, Blake spoke up "She didn't seem comfortable using that Scythe Weiss, and with all the fighting, none of us noticed until it was too late."

"I know that, but still." The snowy haired woman spoke with a scowl, her arms crossed, even as the younger blonde slipped away from the group, most likely to patch up any injuries the other two had "You can't tell me you weren't worried either!"

Rolling her eyes slightly, the black themed girl smirked as she spoke up "No, but I'm not going to be as vocal as you are about it."

A bright blush appeared on the white haired girls face at that statement, something that caused a round of laughter to go through the group, Ruby having a smile on her face, before she slowly stood up, the tenderness of her leg still there, but otherwise she didn't feel any pain. Shifting a bit on her leg just to make sure, the black haired reaper gave a big smile as she spoke up again "It's like I was never injured in the first place!"

**[Play Fire Emblem: Awakening OST: ID (Serenity)]**

"That's a good thing I suppose." Came the voice of the man that had saved Ruby in the first place "When we heard the fighting, we came as fast as we could, so I'm glad to see that you're alright miss."

Scratching the back of her head a bit, the silver eyed girl spoke up, her tone obviously nervous "W-well, like I said, I wasn't used to the balance of the scythe, so it threw me off balance slightly."

"Speaking of, I do not believe I have ever seen someone use a farming implement as a weapon before." The large man spoke up, his eyes narrowed slightly, but not in suspicion, but of curiosity "You used it with a fair amount of skill I must say."

"That's putting it lightly Fredrick!" The blonde spoke up with a wide smile "You were swinging it around like it was nothing!"

Ruby's face seemed to steadily get more red at the two's words, before Yang spoke up, amusement in her tone "Alright you two, enough with embarrassing Ruby. If she gets anymore red, she'll probably look like an actual Ruby!"

A soft groan left the three girls on her team, even as the other blonde laughed slightly, with the two men shaking their heads in amusement. Still, the blue haired man spoke up once again, as he spoke, "If it's not too much to ask, might I ask where you four are from? I've never seen such brightly colored clothes before to be honest."

Looking at each other, Blake walked forward after that, her voice hesitant as she spoke "To be completely honest? Were not sure where we are right now. The last thing we remember was a bright flash of light, and then ending up in this field. Those bandits attacked us before we could get our bearings."

"The name Vale wouldn't happen to be familiar to you would it?" Ruby spoke up hopefully.

Seeing the confused look on the blue haired man's face along with the blonde, Ruby's hopes died of them knowing where they were. Between the fact that they couldn't feel their Aura, the odd accent the bandit had, and the fact that something had taken their weapons, and replaced them, Ruby was convinced that something had sent them to where they were. With the fact that magic was a thing on Remnant, she wasn't even sure what was possible as far as the subject went.

Still, Yang managed to put up a cheerful voice that was at odds with the stress they all felt as she spoke up "Well! I guess this means were horribly lost then!"

"We are to take you at your word that you somehow found yourself here?" Fredrick spoke up with distrust in his voice this time.

Ruby could feel it as Weiss's hackles we raised, her tone becoming critical towards the knight "Whether you believe it or not, that's what happened! What, do you think we staged the whole fight with the bandits as well?"

"Of course not." The knight spoke up, his tone filled with annoyance, "Yet still, how are we to trust what you say is the truth?"

It looked like the two were about to get into a yelling match, when the blue haired man spoke up "Enough Fredrick! Whether their story is believable or not doesn't matter. I believe they really are lost, whatever else the case may be, we should find a better place to have this conversation then a random field. More of those fiends could descend upon us if we're not careful."

The knight seemed to agree with that statement if his posture was anything to go by, something that Ruby was at least grateful for.

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It didn't take them long to find a town with an inn, with two different rooms for them, though all of RWBY, aside form Yang, Groaned slightly at the fact that the town was named Southtown of all things. The fact that they were in the southern part of the country did little to help the matter. Still, along the way to the town Ruby at least had learned the name of her savior and, apparently, his little sister. The blue haired man's name was Chrom, while the little blonde was Lissa.

Surprisingly for the silver eyed reaper, she became easy friends with the small blonde, thought that likely had more to do with how outgoing Lissa was then anything. She could almost feel the smug smile of satisfaction coming off of her sister at the fact that she became friends with the young blonde, who was 15 if her claims were true.

Still, Ruby broke her train of thought off as she sat in front of Chrom, Fredrick standing behind him with his arms behind his back, and Lissa sitting next to her brother. The rest of her team, for whatever reason, were standing as well, behind her though, as she explained everything she could to the man in front of her. From what Remnant was, to what Grimm were, and other things as well.

"And well, the Apathy were almost on us when Maria had me think about happy memories. That was about when the bright light hit us, and the next thing we know we were waking up in that field." Ruby finished lamely, her shoulders going up briefly to show her confusion with the whole situation as well.

"Normally I would bring your sanity into question, but there were far too many details to it all too just be made up." Chrom spoke up after a minute of silence "Still, whether it was by magic, or some other force, you four are now here, in Ylisse. The question now is what you will do. I'll leave you four be for the time being."

With his piece said, the blue haired man got up from his seat and went towards the door, Fredrick following him, along with Lissa, the latter of which sent the girls a quick worried glance before exiting the room with. Silence dragged on in the room for a few minutes, before eventually Blake broke it her tone tired in a way that Ruby could empathize with "We need money more than anything. Money and supplies both, if were going to be searching for a way back, we'd need both in case it takes years."

"I mean, we could become mercenaries?" Ruby spoke up, her tone a bit on the nervous side, "I mean, we know how to fight, and there has to be some sort of monster around to fight."

Weiss didn't look like she liked that idea, but she didn't voice her complaints for the time being, Ruby didn't like the idea either if she was being honest, but they had no idea about the land they were in, and to add with that was the fact that they had no history here either. Considering that there wasn't a lot they could realistically do, and add in their odd clothing, at least by this world's standards, and it was a recipe for disaster, to say nothing of them having to get used to their weapons again.

"What if we asked Chrom for help?" Yang spoke up, her eyes still glued on the door for the time being "He might not seem like it, but I'm betting he's well off. The fact that Fredrick guy calls him 'Milord' means he's a noble or something."

Weiss gave a nod to the information, "If the villagers we saw on the way here is anything as well, his clothes kind of give him away as well you know. He's brash unlike any person of high class I've ever seen though."

"I think that's a good thing in this case." Blake spoke in a dry tone "He seemed easy to believe that were from another world though."

Giving a nod, Ruby watched her sister cross her arms, her left hand gripping the very real flesh and blood arm "If we go back, will everything go back to how it was before we came here?"

That wasn't something that could be answered considering where they were, but considering the fact that she was gripping her arm like she was, Ruby suspected a part of her sister didn't want to if it meant going back to the metal arm again. If she was honest, Ruby didn't care what the answer was, she just wanted her sister to be happy again.

Awakening of a rose.

"Milord, If I might make a suggestion?" Fredrick's voice spoke up as soon as the three of them were settled into their own room "I know where your mind tends to lead, and I would agree with you in this case if only because of the fact that such a fantastical story is either true or insane, but yet neither could be the case if one is true. You need not convince me of their sincerity."

A smile made its way onto the blue haired man's face at his friends words "Well, at the very least that saves me the breath needed to try and convince you. What of your thoughts Lissa?"

"I mean, It does seem kinda weird how they got here, but didn't they say something about their world having some sort of gods or something?" The small blonde spoke up, with a shrug, though she still had a smile on her face "Besides that, they all seem really nice! Even that Weiss girl was nice, kinda like Maribelle now that I think about it."

Chrom gave a nod towards that, considering the noble woman in question, and he did agree to an extent if the first interaction between Ruby and Weiss that he saw was anything to go by. Cold on the outside, but warm on the inside seemed to be a common theme between the two from what he could see. Still, hearing it from his sisters mouth was enough for him to feel at ease with his decision.

"Well, if that's the case, why don't we have them join the Shepherds?" Chrom spoke with a sort of sly look on his face, "You don't seem to have any suspicions towards them other than the usual vigilance Fredrick, and it seems like Lissa likes them as well after all."

Giving a 'hmph' the brown haired knight gave a nod "It would be better then the 4 of them going off on their own as Mercenaries. Few who join such a profession retain morals after all is said and done."

Lissa's bright smile was enough of an answer for Chrom from his sister, so it was with that finished, that he got up from his seat, and went out of the room they were staying in, Fredrick right behind him. Lissa no doubt stayed only so that she could get the best bed of the group, not that he wouldn't have given it to her anyway, but also because this was more his thing anyway. He had done all of the recruiting for the Shepherds so far, and that wasn't likely to change anytime soon.

Stopping in front of the door as he heard a loud 'Enough', likely from the Blonde of the group, Chrom stood still, as he heard said blonde speak "It doesn't matter! If we go back, i'll deal with it, and if we don't then its fine. Its not something we need to worry about right now!"

"But Yang-" The voice of the black haired girl, Blake he believed her name to be started, only to get cut off by the voice of Ruby.

"She just said it didn't matter Blake, so drop it." The scythe wielders tone brokered no arguments, something that led to him raising an eyebrow at Frederick, and receiving one in turn.

Deciding now was as good a time as any, the blue haired prince brought his fist up to the door, and knocked a few times, before taking a step back as he heard something crash against the door. Silence reigned as Chrom stared at the tip of a rapier that was level with his head, though a good enough distance that it wouldn't have hit even if he hadn't moved.

Eventually the door opened as a pair of Silver eyes peaked out from behind the door, shame seeming to ooze from the girl, her voice trembling slightly to mirror this "I'm so sorry!"

"Still a bit jumpy from the fighting I would assume?" Frederick's dry voice sounded out, though a twinkle of amusement could be seen for those who knew him, so Chrom knew the knight was teasing in his own way.

Looking at the knight with a slightly wide eyed look, the reaper gave a nervous laugh as her words seemed to tumble out of her mouth "It's between the Bandits that attacked us, and the Apathy we had to deal with before, and it's been a really really long day, and again I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it, I've gotten worse from training to be honest." Chrom spoke with an amused tone at the girl, no young woman, in front of him "Still, I suppose the stress of the situation does little to help with matters concerning you four no doubt are still thinking about what to do now if i'm not wrong?"

A put upon sigh left the Reapers mouth, even as she nodded "We're no closer to figuring out what to do now, then we were before you found us. I mean, they never taught us what to do if you found yourself flung to another world at Beacon."

A chuckle left Chrom at Ruby's words, something that coaxed a smile out of her in turn, even as the blue haired man spoke up once more "Well, I can offer a way to at least ease some of the stress your no doubt facing. I wanted to offer the four of you positions on the militia group I run. While it wouldn't get you away from the fighting, it would at the very least give you a stable way to earn gold without resorting to being sellswords."

Chrom could see the way Ruby's eyes seemed to be thinking of several different things, most likely all of them having to do with the offer he had just presented her. More emotions then he could keep track of went through her eyes after a few seconds as well, but it was the palpable relief that he could see go through her that stuck around after a few moments.

Slowly a smile made its way onto the young woman's face "Alright."

That one word was enough for Chrom's hand to go forward towards Ruby, and even as she grasped his hand in her own, he couldn't help but wholeheartedly mean the next words he spoke "I'm glad to have you with us."

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**So? What did you guys think? I'm betting there are going to be a few people that question why I had them take to appearing in a different world so well, and to be honest, I ran the idea through my head several times, and no matter what I did, I just couldn't come up with a way that they were in denial that didn't seem forced. Keep in mind, this is right after the Apathy incident as far as RWBY timeline goes. This means, they had learned about, not only magic, but about the Brother Gods. So, in my mind, that was enough shock back to back to back, that it justified them just rolling with the punches so to speak. I Know that won't please some of you, but that's just how it is as far as how I see things.**

**Keeping on with this, I also want to say this, it wasn't Naga that sent them to Ylisse, since I'm going to assume that a few people are going to guess that as well, but I want to add in something else that, while might be a little spoilery for some, its something I just want to say because I can. Remnant has an Outrealm gate.**

**Well that's enough out of me for the time being, so I'm going to cut this a bit short, While also giving you guys an Omake that, Spoiler alert (not Really) happens a bit in the future! The only thing it confirms is something that Blake does, and its a really tiny thing for that matter. So yeah, Take it!**

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_Omake: Blake's barracks log book- Entry 1: Ruby Rose._

_To the Future Tactician of The Shepherds this is a logbook to help with decisions based on the abilities of the group, and as such will be written in a way that is unbiased as possible._

_Name: Ruby Rose._

_Age: 18 (of time of entry added) born on Oct. 31_

_Ruby Rose is the leader of team RWBY, a group of what are known as Huntresses in the world they are from. Though the youngest of the group, she has shown to have tactical abilities to a degree, but not to the extent of a large army, and as such should only be entrusted with a small group if she is to lead, to which she is able to in a more than adequate fashion. Wielding a scythe, her weapon is only able to take life, and as such she has no way of practicing off the field._

_Class: Reaper- A scythe wielder that has a large amount of agility, and can use magic._

_Reclass: Myrmidon, Thief._

_Promotions: Assassin, Grimm Reaper._

_Personal Analysis: Ruby has the capability to be whatever it is she puts her mind to, but with her skiles, if she were to drop the scythe for any reason, a Myrmidon or a Thief would be her best bets for training, as both use a sword, and are speed based roles, something that her naturally high speed would benefit from if nothing else. As there is no technical role for someone who wields a scythe, Prince Chrom has suggested calling her a Reaper, something that was taken with a smile, and a joke._

_Assassin training would benefit Ruby, as well if she were to go that route, though adding more strength training, and more armor would be more beneficial to her as the Scythe is not something she would drop without reason. Upon the potentiality of Promotion, it was suggested, by Frederick, the name of Grimm Reaper, as a play off of the Grimm monsters that we had fought in our original world. The name is pending (As of the time of this being made), and as such is subject to change._


	2. Chapter 2

**Alrighty! Here we are with chapter two, the long awaited sequel to the first chapter! Or least that's what I would say, if not for the fact that, well, this is going to be a long story, so two chapters? That's not even **_close_** to how many chapters i'm going to end up getting into this. Still, I will admit to having more then a little surprise at all of the feedback I ended up getting just from the first chapter! 20 Follows, 18 Favorites, and 5 Reviews? That's a lot more then I thought I was going to get if i'm being honest, and I'm happy about that! There is only one thing that i'm not happy about with all of this, and that's people sending me PM's demanding I pair up team RWBY.**

**NOT GOING TO HAPPEN PEOPLE!**

**I know where i'm going with this story, and I know where I want to end up for that matter, so the fact that someone is telling me, nay, DEMANDING, I pair up team RWBY is a no go! Hell, don't suggest pairings for anyone in the Shepards either, because I already know where i'm going with them, and that's that. I know that me going off on a bit of Tangent isn't going to help my popularity towards people that wanted a specific pairing, but there is a REASON I didn't decide to post pairings on the character part of this story. Its supposed to be a surprise after all, and where's the fun in surprises if someone gets a little hint? Well, there you go.**

**Now that I've gotten that out of the way, lets get on to the reviews!**

**Dracus6: Please refer to the above rant. Thank you.  
**

**Sahqoyoltaash: Ok, first off, your name, Nice with that honestly, I can't even imagine how much fun it must have been to come up with it. Second off, thank you for the Review, and I can't wait to hear from you again on your opinion once we get into the meat of things with this story, because you'll definitely get 'Interesting'**

**Gundam 06:Well, it wasn't soon, but here it is! I kinda made myself a 'Once a week' limit so I wouldn't burn myself out on keeping this story going, but that's neither here nor there. Hope you enjoy this chapter!**

**Guest#1: While, yes, Ruby has Jinn's lamp on her hip still, keep in mind this is a single question that would, afterwards, mean they couldn't use the lamp again for another 100 years! A question like, 'Where are we' would be a waste of the question, and not to mention the fact that, I think your underestimating just how Panicked someone can be when they wake up in an unfamiliar place, only to have to fight for there lives afterwards. So yes, Ruby does, in fact have Jinn, but a question like that is, for all intents and purposes, a waste of a question.**

**Guest#2: Well, thank your for the review, though I do wish it wasn't as a guest so I could give you proper credit. As for Maria, and Qrow (as I think you forgot about him too), well, that would be a spoiler for something long into the future of this story if I manage to get to there anyway. So yeah I can't say much else.**

**WELL, This took up more space then I was hoping for, but either way I'm still more then happy with what I've got out of this. If your reading this and didn't skip all the reviews, please give your own to let me hear your thoughts on this. I can't improve if I don't get me some Criticism after all!**

**ON WITH THE STORY!**

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_Mandatory disclaimer of Mandatoriness: I don't own Fire Emblem or RWBY, and I don't think personally I could come up with stories even have as interesting as their owns can, so yeah._

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The trip to Yisstol was longer than Blake would have liked. The camping they had to do to the capitol city brought back memories she really didn't want to think about when it came to her time in the White Fang. The fact that the prince took to her being an ex-terrorist a lot better than she thought was something that was still a shock to the Faunus even now, but considering the lack of comments on her cat ears, it was put to the wayside for the time being. That was especially when she learned about the Taguel and what happened to them.

It was an eerie mirror to what it must have been like to be a Faunus when they were still a fairly new thing. History had shown what humanity thought of the Faunus when they were an established race, Blake didn't want to think about what it must have been like to be one when they were just introduced to Humanity as a whole. That thought led to her looking towards the Lantern that was resting on Ruby's belt.

And yet her mind kept dragging her back to the image she had seen from Jinn, of the Faunus in cages, and treated as nothing more than wild animals. It frustrated her to no end, but this was a new world, and she wasn't about to try and bring any of those grievances up here, especially since Chrom had been nothing but understanding to the whole group, even taking all the information they had spouted off at him in stride. Though that left a whole other worry if she was being honest.

Chivalry and longevity often did not go hand in hand, and the blue haired man had shown already that he was one that wished for the good in others, even if he didn't know them. Attack an innocent and he wouldn't sit by, but give him a good fight, a spar even, and he would have a grin on his face, while pushing his opponent in a way that few did. He was charismatic in that way, sort of like Ruby.

Taking a quick glance at her team leader, Blake withheld the smirk of amusement that would have shown otherwise as she saw Ruby animatedly talking with Chrom about something, most likely a fight if her hand motions were anything to go by. A look of rapt attention being on the young man's face as he listened to the girls story. It seemed that Chrom was seeing what it was that had the rest of team Ruby drawn to the silver eyed young woman as well.

"I've never seen Milord so taken with someone so quickly." Frederick spoke up suddenly, causing the black haired woman to jump slightly, her attention turning towards the brown haired man, even as he held a hand on her shoulder to keep her steady "My apologies, I did not mean to startle you."

Taking a deep breath to calm her quickened pace, the cat Faunus gave a dismissive sound "It's fine. I've been more than a little tense sense, well, everything happened anyway. Maybe I need to relax a bit once we got to, Ylisstol I think you said?"

"Ylisse is the halidom, while Ylisstol is the city in case that was to be your next question." The knight said with a small smile towards the faunus "But perhaps some rest will do all of you some good. Naga knows what shape Chrom would be if he did not rest every so often."

Filing away the name 'Naga' for the time being, Blake turned her attention back on Ruby and Chrom, the latter of which was laughing at something, before he started to motion as well, as if describing a battle himself "Going back to what you said before, I'd say the same for Ruby honestly. She's not so much shy as Awkward to be honest, and it took me and Weiss a bit of time to become friends with her, but she's more genuine than most Humans I've met."

"Oh? And what of Yang? Am I to believe that they became friends with no problem?" The man spoke up with a slightly raised brow.

A more somber mood fell on Blake at the Knights words, her thoughts leading back to when she ended up getting Yang's when she herself wouldn't rest "They're sisters. It's not obvious, and it's more their story to tell, but they're sisters."

"Forgive me, I may overstepped in that moment." The knight bowed his head slightly, even as he kept his pace without a problem.

Giving a simple shake of her head, the Faunus gave a smile towards the large man "Its fine, you didn't know, and it's not my place to say. Really though, I just want Ruby to be happy, just like Yang and no doubt Weiss do. She just has something that draws you to her, almost like a moth to a flame, but without the risk of burning of course."

A slight smile appeared on Frederick's face at the comment, his tone light as he spoke "I feel the same way about Chrom if I am honest. He does not see himself as such, but he is a natural leader, but he simply needs experience. At 18, he has done a lot, but there is still much that he must learn."

"The two are similar in that regard then." The black themed girl softly stated, a smile on her face at the sight of Ruby giving some sort of laugh in turn at whatever it was that Chrom said. It was an innocence that she hoped would last, but knew would be ripped away without warning.

The world was a cruel mistress afterall.

**Awakening of a Rose.**

Ylisstol was a lot larger than she would have thought. The city was easily the size of Vale, if not larger, and with the crowding of people, it felt like Kuo Kuana. The marketplace was full of noise, whether of children running around playing, or of Salesmen trying to sell their wares, it was a situation that left a smile of comfort on Blake's face. Crowded or not, Kuo Kuana was where she grew up, and it was her home.

The comfort lasted as long as that thought, as her mind drifted towards her parents, who would no doubt be extremely worried about her when they found out she was missing. Blake could feel the weight of the thought drop on her in a sudden sort of way that left her reeling. The comforting hand that dropped on her shoulder broke her out of her thoughts, causing her to look towards the owner and see that it was Yang who had placed it on her. The flesh and blood of her right arm was something that Blake was still getting used to as well, the guilt of the original getting cut off still in her mind, though not as heavily as it was while the Apathy were affecting them.

"I know that look." Yang said with a disapproving tone "Your beating yourself up for something that isn't your fault again aren't you?"

Shaking her head, while grabbing the hand and holding onto it as a sort of lifeline for the time being, Blake kept walking, making sure to keep up with Chrom and Lissa, even as Frederick took the rear of the group "I'm thinking about my parents, and how worried they're going to be once they find out I'm missing."

"I… Can't say I haven't thought about the same thing when it comes to our dad." Yang slowly said, the Blonde gripping the hand back now that her mind was on a certain train of thought "I mean, I'm sure that he'll be fine, he always has, and I know he won't think we're dead, but i don't know what it's going to do to him knowing that we're not somewhere he can contact us if he needs to."

A sort of sigh coming from the side of them caused the two to look towards Weiss, we had her arms crossed, a frown on her face "I'm not sure what my father is going to do once he learns I'm missing, but I'm worried about what it will mean for Winter."

"Your sis is tough Weiss, i'm sure she'll be fine." Yang said, her tone showing that she was trying to cheer the girl up.

If anything though, it seemed to make her more depressed, the white haired girl continuing "I know that, I do! Its just… I won't ever get the chance to write the wrongs my father did."

"Then we take it one step at a time." Blake spoke up after a second "This is a new world, a new chance even. If we don't ever have the chance to go back… Then lets take this for what it is, and try to find a new normal for ourselves."

That statement alone was something that caused the other two girls to give a sort of smile, thought it didn't reach their eyes, she could see it. Still, Blake tried her best, and even if she said it, she knew it wasn't something that was going to be easy, with the emotional baggage the three of them had. Ruby never worried about things like that, and while it was nice to keep moving forward, Blake could feel that it would get the girl into something she wouldn't be able to get out of on her own eventually. She just hoped that someone would be there to help her pick up the pieces when that happened.

Snapping out of her thoughts, Blake's golden eyes trailed over the rooftops for a second as she heard what sounded like someone stepping on a few roof tiles. Narrowing her eyes slightly, the Faunus's eyes trailed over every detail she could see, her eyes quickly snapping to the slightly shadowy shape of someone who was resting on a rooftop a few dozen paces down the way they were heading. The only thing she could really make out, even through the smell of unwashed bodies, was a slightly sweet smell on the wind.

"Frederick." The black haired girl spoke up, forcing her eyes away for the time being, even as the knight moved to catch up with the girls "Rooftop, twenty feet or so ahead of us."

Looking where the woman spoke discreetly, Blake could see the man's eyes narrow slightly as he spotted the same thing she no doubt did. Giving a nod, the knight walked ahead at a quickened pace, one that did not betray anything except the need to talk to his liege, even as he placed a hand on her shoulder firmly, a way of saying 'Good Work' if she wasn't wrong.

"Still as observant as ever it seems." Weiss stated with a dry tone, here yes flicking to the man as well for a half second before settling ahead, the three of them catching up along with Frederick.

"Why didn't you go after him yourself though?" The Bruiser of the group asked once they slowed down.

Weiss spoke up before Blake could, something that caused a smile to appear on the Faunus' face "We're unknowns as far as this kingdom's military goes Yang. What would you do if you saw more than a few unknown people on the rooftops?"

The realization that appeared on the blondes face was something that Blake was thankful for, even as the blonde separated from them to stand near Lissa, something that caught Frederick's eye if the light nod the knight gave was anything to go by. Weiss broke off as well, to stand a bit near Frederick, giving the ruse of them having a conversation. Blake herself, however, kept the man on the rooftops in the corner of her eye.

It felt like forever, keeping her guard up even as she watched the man, until they made it to the castle itself, and the man still didn't do anything. The first thing that popped into her head at that was the man being a spy, and likely keeping tabs on the Prince. She would have to ask Frederick if they had any spies of their own, but until them, with them through the gate to the castle.

A furrowed brow quickly replaced whatever thoughts she had, her eyes trailing over the walls of the castle to see that there wasn't too much in the way of guards stationed around the castle. The small number of them made her more than a little concerned about the state of the Haildom's defenses.

That was something for later though, as she took in the sight of the castle before her. The architecture had an age to it though she could see signs of it being patched up her and there as age took its toll. Still, with the way the walls surrounding the castle were set up, and with how thick they were, invasion must have been something that happened in the past. Even then, it was a beautiful structure.

Balke's eyes trailed back ahead of her as they entered the castle, the inside of the castle being just as breathtaking as the outside, though the entrance hall left her feeling like she was walking into Beacon for the first time once again. The large room was covered with blue banners, a symbol not unlike the one on Chrom's shoulder emblazoned on banners that were set periodically throughout the room. At the end of the hall, however, was a woman that, even while sitting, exuded a sort of gracefulness that Blake had never seen.

Her light blonde hair was done into two drills at the side of her neck, while the rest was held back by Diadem of some sort, the back part looking almost like the same symbol on the banners, while resting upon her brow was the same scale like mark that adorned Chrom's shoulder. Even as she took this in, the black haired woman took note of Ruby falling back to stand with the rest of the team.

As soon as Chrom was within speaking distance of the woman, a smile appeared on her face like one a mother would have for a child, even as she stood up, her green robes flowing around her form "Chrom! Lissa! It's good to see you have returned home safe and sound. Any longer and I would have started to worry of your safety."

"You don't need to worry sis, if this idiot gets injured I'll heal him right up" Lissa stated with a large grin, ignoring the indignant sound coming from her brother.

Blake's brain seemed to freeze for a few moments as she took in what was said, a part of her staring in disbelief as she realized that this wasn't Chrom and Lissa's mother, but their older sister. Still she didn't let her shock show, even as the woman's gaze turned towards them "Of course Lissa, but might I ask who these new arrivals are…?"

"If I may your grace?" Fredrick spoke up, his serious tone breaking any lightness of the situation at the moment, with the woman nodding, her face taking a serious expression to it as well "These four lady's have found themselves in our lands with nary an idea as to how. While I do believe their tale, as fantastical as it sounded, I am not sure of their intentions."

Chrom looked like he wanted to say something, but a hand on his shoulder from his older sister left him silent, even as she took in the four of them. An uncomfortable sort of feeling went through Blake at the woman's gaze, almost like she was looking right through them, seeing all of the good and bad they had ever done. It was a disconcerting feeling to someone like Blake, and it left a cold feeling to settle upon her back.

This continued for what amounted to a minute that felt like an eternity, until a soft look appeared on the woman's face as she took the four in "Well, perhaps you could regal me with the tale of how you arrived in our lands, but for now, I can tell that none of you mean any harm to anyone within our Halidom. Might I ask for your name's?"

Ruby, ever the brave young woman she was, stepped forwards first, with a smile on her face, Silver eyes alight with a similar kindness as the woman in front of them, though not without an awkwardness as well "Um, I am Ruby Rose your, uh gracefulness?"

"No need to force yourself to be so formal Ruby." The woman said with a hint of amusement in her tone.

A nervous laugh left Blake's team leader, even as Weiss stepped forward next, a regal air to her posture "My name is Weiss Schnee your grace. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"Ah, that name sounds like an old language, though I can't place where." Was the simple reply, though the smile on her face never fell as she looked at Weiss "Nevertheless, it's a pleasure to meet you as well."

Yang went next, as the blonde gave a half smirk of a sort instead of a full on grin like Blake expected "I'm Yang Xiao Long, nice to meet ya!"

Blake could see a few hackles raised at the completely informal tone the blonde used, though a quick glance from the woman, and from Frederick surprisingly, left them keeping their mouth shut, even as she continued "Hm, that sounds like a name you would hear from Chon'sin, but you hardly look like you are from there, so that leaves me with several questions, but nothing I will ask for the time being. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Seeing that it was her time to speak, the black haired woman gave a quick glance towards the rest of her team, seeing Ruby's happy look, Weiss's stiff posture, and the slightly confused look from Yang, but focusing when she saw a slight raised brow from the leader of Ylisse "I'm Blake Belladonna."

She didn't feel a need to say anything else, just her name, thought that didn't stop the woman from commenting as she did with the others "I can see your care for the others even if you do not show it, though I do hope you are not similar to your name sake."

The words caused what felt like Blake's heart stopping for a moment as she took in the fact that she was likened to the Belladonna flower. She could see the playfulness the woman had in her eyes, but that did little to quell the dread she felt at dread at the statement. Forcing herself to bury those thoughts for the time being, Blake took note of the woman moving back towards the Throne in the room for the time being, though she did not sit.

"I formally wish to welcome you four to the Halidom of Ylisse. I am Emmeryn the Exalt, whom is the ruler of these lands." The blonde woman spoke with a soft tone "I would very much like to hear your story at a later time."

Ruby was the first one to recover from Emmeryn addressing each of them, the slight nervousness in her tone completely gone for the time being "We'd be thankful for any aid you could give us too, but until then, we're going to be helping the Shepherd's out."

"I would have liked to tell her myself Ruby, but I suppose it coming directly from you is just as well." Chrom said with a smile on his face, something that Blake took note of considering Yang and Weiss staring at him.

Either the Prince was completely dense as to his affect on most women, or he was a heartbreaker. For his sake she hoped that it was the former of the two, but she had little time for worrying about it for the time being. Her thoughts, instead went back towards the man that had been stalking them on the rooftop, her gaze quickly traveling to Frederick.

She had some questions, and she was certain he could answer them.

**Awakening of a Rose.**

Yang was in awe of Emmeryn if she was honest. The woman was Drop dead gorgeous, and it was a fact that she made known to Chrom as soon as she could speak without her tounge sticking to her mouth. The prince just gave a proud sort of smile, and agreed with the statement as if it was a fact, instead of something that he would just say because of being her brother.

Still the embarrassment Yang felt when the Exalt gave a sort of giggling laugh showing she had heard, was something she hadn't felt in a long time. If the Blonde bruiser thought about it for a time, she realized that she hadn't felt that way since Summer Rose was around, and was scolding her for doing something stupid. Still, she couldn't help but give a smile at Emmeryn's laugh, even as the older woman spoke again.

"I thank you for the compliment Miss Xiao Long." The Exalt said with a kind look, her smile growing slightly when she glanced towards the Direction Yang knew Ruby was "Still, I believe that all of you must be tired. I would have words with you Chrom, a meeting and such. Frederick, would you show these young ladies to the Shepherds Barracks?"

"Actually, before that, could we get some different clothes?" Blake's voice sounded out, something that startled Yang a bit if only because of how quiet blake usually was "I noticed we received out fair share of looks on our way here, maybe some new clothes would help."

Thinking on it for a bit, the blonde brawler had to agree at least with the fact that they needed new clothes. Having only one change of clothes wasn't something she was really keen on after all, but the fact that they didn't really fit in didn't really occur to her until just now. Thinking on it now, she could remember feeling all of the stares they were getting. She was used to it because of her figure, but the fact that the others were getting just as many stares meant that people were looking at them like they were an odd group, which they were now that she thought about it.

"Thinking on it, we should probably get you all outfitted for combat as well." Frederick stated with nod "I notice that you do not have a weapon Yang."

Giving a nod towards that, the Blonde gave her palm a quick punch "That's because I fight with my fists normally."

"You seemed to do pretty well against those Brigands when we helped you out the other day, but I'd recommend picking a weapon to fight with." Frederick stated with a firm nod, something she saw was mirrored by Chrom and her sister as well.

Slumping a bit at the idea of having to learn to fight with another weapon, the blonde still gave a nod towards that, as she followed the knight out of the castle. Chrom and Lissa had to stay due to something Emmeryn wanted to talk to them about, so it was just the knight who was with them. Later on, she found out that while he would normally stay with the royals, this was an exception due to them being in Ylisse.

She wasn't too sure how to feel about the fact that Chrom and Lissa were followed around by Frederick all the time, but considering everything, she didn't say anything either.

It didn't take them long to find the shop to get both their gear, and their clothes, Yang grabbing what Clothes she could find that would be comfortable to her, while Frederick grabbed the armor and such that he thought suited what he saw of their fighting styles. Eventually though, Yang settled on a yellow Turtleneck sweater and a thick pair of woolen pants, the tan material hugging her legs slightly. Thankfully they had a pair of leather boots she could grab as well, the heavy feel to them a comfort.

Looking towards the small table in the changing room, Yang saw a pair of metal Gauntlets sitting there, ones of a better quality than the ones she had on before, the thick metal larger than her hands on the outside. Added to that was a thick Chest Plate that looked like it could take more than a fair few hits, colored yellow oddly enough. A pair of greaves that were colored the same way sat on the table, the metal looking to cover everything, but her feet on her legs. Putting it on, she found that her arms had a large degree of movement no matter how she moved them, getting a smile to appear on her face even as she left the changing room.

The store owner, a woman with red hair, and a perpetual smile on her face, gave an approving nod "Looking good! I can't say I've seen to many women that can pull of heavy armor and still look good, but you definitely do."

Giving a wink towards the woman, Yang looked down towards her gauntlets as she closed her hands a few times to test how punching would feel, she heard the changing room curtain move, Yang couldn't help but feel amusement at the fact that despite the clothes Ruby chose, she still had her cloak on when she looked up. The white undershirt she had was simple, but was underneath a metal Corset of a sort stopping just under her chest, likely being the Armor Frederick chose. Her arms had a pair of metal gauntlet that stopped in the middle of her bicep, with her shoulders covered by a simple pair of pauldrons that were segmented, but stopped just under the shoulder. Her legs had leather padding on them, but underneath the stockings and leather shoes she had, and a skirt that had metal wiring through the material. Still on her hip was the Relic of Knowledge, a soft blue glow coming from it.

"Well, look at you!" Yang said with a Grin on her face as she took in her sister "You look like your ready to fight alright."

Giving a nod, Ruby spun a bit, her cloak rising a bit "I feel like one of those knights in an old story!"

"Look the part too as far as I can tell." Came Blake's voice, amusement coloring it, as she came into view.

Blake came into View, and Yang couldn't stop the whistle that left her at the sight. A set of Leather armor covered Blake's chest, though the straps on the chest showed a window to her cleavage, the armor covered her shoulders, the upper torso, while showing the dark purple shirt she had underneath. A pair of leather straps crossed over her hips, the sword she woke up with strapped to her left hip. Black pants covered her legs, disappearing into a pair of metal boots that stopped at her knees. In all Blake looked like what Yang would expect a Thief to look like from a story.

The blush that appeared on Blake's face at the whistle got a chuckle from the sisters, even as they looked towards where Weiss had entered. It didn't take long for the Snowy haired woman to leave, and Yang to widen her eyes bit at the sight. Weiss had a breastplate on as well, but the metal obviously wasn't as thick as her own, but it connected with the armor on her arms, making it look like one piece of armor, The armor stopped just above her stomach, showing the white shirt, and skirt combo she had chosen underneath. A single strap of leather cross from her right hip, down to just under her left, holding the Rapier she had with her. The pants she had underneath the skirt was of a dark blue color, connecting with the leather shoes she had on.

Yang could see the blush appearing on Weiss' face at the attention, but the clearing of Frederick's throat caused the four women to look over towards him "Now that your apparel is sorted out, it's on to the Barracks. I took the liberty of grabbing a few copies of the outfits that you had chosen so that you would have more than one change of clothes."

"Speaking of that, how did you know our sizes anyway?" Weiss spoke up, her tone having an edge to it.

Heat flooded to Yang's face at the statement, something that mirrored Blake and Ruby's face, all four of the woman looking at the knight with narrowed eyes. Frederick, for his part, just gave a flat look towards them as he spoke "I guessed."

That simple statement was something that caused all four of them to pause, and just stare at the man in disbelief. Still, Ruby was the first to recover, her hand being placed on Yang's shoulder, getting the Blondes attention. A simple shrug left her sister, something that caused the Blonde brawler to just shake her head in disbelief even as they followed the Knight.

**Awakening of a Rose.**

Getting the Barracks didn't take long all things considered, Yang taking note of the disarray that the place was in. There was a bunch of crates stacked haphazardly in one of the corners, the only table visible was covered in various things, from books, to parchment, and even a few weapons. In all, it looked like a storm went through the area. The area was empty besides them at the moment though she could hear what sounded like the Clang of metal from somewhere outside.

Turning on his heel, the knight they had followed crossed his arms behind him, as he turned his attention to them once again "Ruby, Weiss, Blake. There are rooms upstairs, find whichever one you like that is empty, and take it. Yang, I want you to follow me so that we might find a weapon to start teaching you."

Yang felt a bit off put about being separated from her team, but knew that she needed to listen to the knight. Giving a reassuring look towards her team, the three of them gave variations of an understanding nod, before heading towards the stairs to claim a room. Yang, in turn, started to follow the knight out of the building until they ended up in a training yard.

When they entered, the sound of the clanging metal grew until Yang saw the cause, with two women duking it out. The first was a woman who had short red hair, and a rough appearance. The woman across from her had gray hair, despite being in what looked to be her early twenties, that was loose for the most part, aside from the twist in the center, a clip that looked like a pair of wings on her head. Neither had armor on at the moment, a simple shirt and trouser combo on them.

The two women were fighting with a pair of blunted spears, their fighting fluid and agile, sort of like how Weiss would fight now that Yang thought about it. The gracefulness the two had left Yang staring a bit, until the grey haired woman seemed to Trip on nothing, falling face first into the dirt, her spear flying into the air behind her in the process. Despite herself, a snort of laughter left her, causing the two to look towards her, the redhead having scowl on her face.

"What, you got somethin' to say?" The redhead spoke with a rough voice, her tone promising pain if she didn't like the answer.

Holding her hands up Yang couldn't help the smile on her face, even as she spoke, " Sorry, I couldn't help it. I don't think I've ever seen someone trip like that before."

"Ooohhh…" The grey haired woman let out a whine of embarrassment "I almost got it that time too."

Clearing his throat to gain the two women's attention, Frederick gave a sort of smirk towards the grey haired woman "I'm sure with more practice you'll get it in time Sumia."

"See, I'm not the only one that thinks you'll get it." The redhead said to Sumia, while slapping her on the back a bit, before turning to Yang "Now, who're you? Ain't never seen you around here before."

"I'm Yang." The blonde said, holding out her hand to the redhead, and getting a firm grip in turn, something that caused a smirk to appear on her face, which was returned "Nice to meet ya."

Giving a slight chuckle, the redhead nodded in turn "I'm Sully, and likewise."

"I-I'm Sumia by the way." Sumia said, holding out her hand as well, Yang giving her a much softer handshake then she gave Sully, a smile appearing on the woman's face "I hope you like it here, e-even if its a bit of a mess."

Yang couldn't help the light chuckle she let out at that. Considering how the entrance to the barracks looked, she couldn't help but agree with the sentiment. As messy as it was, it was still a nice place all things considered.

"Yang, along with three others, are joining the Shepherds." Frederick spoke after the three had their introductions "The reason Yang is here at the moment, however, is due to the fact that she needs to learn how to fight with a weapon."

A raised eyebrow came from Sully at that comment, to where Yang Clarified with a punch to her palm "I'm used to fighting with my fists, but Freddy here figures I need to learn to fight with a weapon, too."

"Do not call me that again." Came the bland reply from Frederick, something that caused a smirk to leave Yang, showing her intention to keep doing it anyway.

Sumia gave the Blonde a once over quickly, before running to the wrack in the area that held all the training weapons. She came back, struggling slightly, with a heavy looking Axe, handing it to the Blonde Brawler, her words coming out slightly rushed "You look really strong, like Sully and Fredrick, so maybe an Axe would work. I-if that's alright?"

Taking the Axe, and lifting it up slightly, Yang couldn't help but give a nod as she hefted it, the Weight agreeing with her at least "I mean, it's got weight to it, but that's not a bad thing."

"Then we will start you off with trying to learn how to use an axe." Frederick said with a simple nod, before turning to Sully and Sumia "If the two of you would go off to the side lines for a moment? I wish to assess Yang's capabilities, before asking for your input, Sulla, as I am unsure as to how to help train her other than physically."

The two quickly did as was asked, thought Sully, before she left, put a hand on yang's shoulder and shook her head "Best of luck to you, Frederick's a beast himself, and he doesn't know how to hold back."

Yang wasn't sure how to take that comment, even as she turned towards the Knight with the Training Axe in her hands. Gripping it in a way that she felt was comfortable, she bent her knees slightly, before taking a deep breath. The Brawler charged at Frederick, a swing heading towards the man.

The next thing the Blonde knew, she was staring up towards the sky, blinking dark spots out of her eyes, even as she felt a slight pain in her stomach. She couldn't help but let out a cough, her lungs burning from the hit she received. After a few seconds, a spot of red hair appeared in her vision, Sully looking down at her, and a hand being held out to help her up.

"It would seem that you have a lot of work to do with learning how to wield an Axe." Frederick's voice sounded out, no disappointment in his tone, but a hint of exasperation.

Yang in turn couldn't help but feel dread going down her spine at the comment.

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**Omake: Blake's barracks log book- Entry 2: Yang Xiao Long**

_Name: Yang Xiao Long_

_Age: 20 (of time of entry added.) Birthday is unknown, even to her and as such, she celebrates it a week after Ruby's._

_Yang Xiao Long is the older sister of Ruby Rose, and the heaviest hitter of team RWBY. Being able to lift a whole horse above her head is nothing to bat an eye at, and even less so when you consider it is Frederick's horse that she did so with first. The blonde brawler is at her best with her fists, and a pair of spiked Gauntlets, but after extensive work with Frederick, she is more than adequate with an axe as well. With the armor she has, she can take a fair few hits, and won't budge an inch while doing so._

_Class: Brawler._

_Reclass: Knight, Cavalier._

_Promotions: Warrior, Great knight._

_Personal analysis: Yang his a heavy hitter, and has great strength, as such she would be a great knight, giving her a large amount of defense, as well as offense. She is normally slow moving, so having the armor on her wouldn't change how fast she moved all that much, while also giving her that little bit more protection against physical aspects. Cavalier would also be a good choice for her as it would increase her mobility via a horse, but still give her a bit of defense with the armor that would be on her._

_Warrior would be the best bet for Yang as far as possible promotions go, due the armor, and the training giving her more of an edge with her strength. Warrior training would also help her channel her already monstrous strength into something that, while still not completely tamed, would leave it more directed. In turn, Great Knight would give her the mobility as a Cavalier, while also giving her the defense of a Knight, something that she would benefit from greatly._

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**And there we are folks, Chapter 2 said and done with! I'm going to keep this nice and simple, this is just a 'Thank you' area for people that followed and Favorited, so yeah.**

**Thank you ALonelyTactician,** **BossStefano, ChaosOverlord65, DimondDog, DoshesToDoshes, Erk Prower, HaloEmblem, KazeNoKishiX, MegaElite, Nooppi5, Oniner, Sahqoyoltaasah, Summa Rerum, WEIRDELVIS, Yunok, kaberial, makx12, mega1987, pichufan101, and sbuckmanz For following this story, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well.**


	3. Chapter 3

**SO here we are with Chapter 3 of this story, and I have to say, I did **_not_** expect the kind of reception to this story that I ended up getting, like seriously. 2 Chapters in, and it has 38 Followers, and 32 Favorites? That was not something I expected, by I am beyond happy about all this, so thank you everyone for Taking your time to read this story, and all of that. Onto the Review responses!**

**Annjames: Well, here we are then yeah? I'm glad to hear you like the story though, so hope you enjoy this chapter as well.**

**Dracus6: Oh! I'm sorry about that then. I was Ranting about the fact that I ended up with, like, 4 or 5 different Private messages that were worded in a way that demanded I pair the members of team RWBY together, and I kind of took that out on you, so I am very sorry about that. As far as the story idea goes, that _is_ a good one, but I'm honestly not sure if I would do it. I have a lot on my plate between work, and then things with writing, and all that, but maybe one day. Stay tuned either way I suppose ;)**

**IhevMelons9: Well, I'm glad you enjoy the story as well, and I promise I won't burn myself out on this. I was just saying that I was trying to keep things to a chapter release a week so that I have a buffer period while I'm writing the next chapter, or the one after if I finish the next. It allows me to stop at anytime so I won't get ahead of myself. That's all. Now, as far as the interactions between members of team RWBY, and the Shepard's, well, It will still be a bit before we have Panne, or Tiki for that matter, show up as is likely obvious, but the Maribelle and Weiss one, that's something that will happen eventually, I can assure you of that. Just not this chapter, as you will likely see.**

**Well, that's enough of that wouldn't you say? On with the Story!**

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_Disclaimer: I don't one RWBY or the Fire emblem series, and as such I have no say as far as anything considered Cannon!_

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Weiss could say with certainty, that after three weeks of being around the Shepherds, that they were all insane. Between Vaike, a blonde brute of a man, and Sully, a woman who might as well have been a Man with how rough she was, she now knew how most of the damage to the barracks came to be. The blonde man was a complete and utter buffoon, and seemed to always be picking a fight with Sully. She wasn't completely sure why the idiot did as such, but considering how he was always soundly beaten by the redhead, Weiss's confusion was more than palpable.

Then there was Mirel. Where to even start with the mage? She was smart. Incredibly so, but she spoke in such a roundabout way, Weiss felt like she was in front of her father's Board of Directors, and they were dissecting literally everything she said with a scalpel. Every cut was precise. Every word, measured. It honestly left her feeling more than a little uncomfortable with how the woman spoke. Still, after talking with her a bit, she found that the woman just spoke that way, and meant nothing by it. It was just her Quirk.

Stahl was another interesting character to say the least. When he had met Weiss, he was on kitchen duty, something that she always looked forward to now. Stahl had to be one of the best cooks she had ever met, and that was downplaying it by a fair bit if she was being blunt. The man's eyes seemed to flash with more than a little joy at hearing those words coming from her, even as he put another helping into her bowl as it was stew that night.

Finally was Sumia, the sweetheart that she was. Weiss had trouble thinking of someone more nice then the grey haired Pegasus knight (in training she would insist). She loved to read, though, it was with a red face, that Weiss learned that those books tended to be on the raunchier side. Even ignoring that however, Sumia had her own quirk of falling, but whenever she was mounted on a Pegasus, she was more graceful than most people on land.

Which was why Weiss was currently following Sumia towards the training grounds for Pegasus knights. After learning that only women could ride upon the winged horses backs, Weiss asked if she could talk with someone to have her hand at riding on one of them. Sumia had been hesitant as to say if she could, at least until Chrom had overheard the conversation. The Blue haired prince had come up to the two of them with a smile on his face, something that left both Weiss and Sumia's cheeks aflame. The bastard didn't seem to even notice!

Weiss's grumbling must have been heard by Sumia, as the grey haired woman looked towards Weiss with a questioning look. Clearing her throat at the look, The Ex-Heiress looked away while responding "Just remembering what Chrom did before we left."

"Ah! I suppose to someone who isn't used to it, it'd be irritating?" Sumia said with an understanding tone "There were more than a few accusations thrown at Chrom of him being a playboy, but since he's so dense, they had little ground."

Huffing at that, a scathing tone left the snowy haired woman "Whether he's dense or not, that doesn't mean he should be that charming!"

After the time that Sumia and Weiss had spent with each other, the Pegasus knight knew that was just her defense mechanism in a sense. So it was with amusement, that Sumia's own response was thrown "Well, you have to admit he's nice to look at."

"I… won't deny that." Weiss coughed into her fist slightly, her cheeks inflaming a bit more, even as her eyes darted to the side "He does have a nice butt though."

Under any other circumstances, Weiss would have never been caught dead Gossiping about boys in any way, but over the first week that team RWBY had been in this world, Weiss had never felt as free as she did on Remnant. She still had her cold outer shell, but it was muted compared to how it used to be, as the worry of her image, and her father, had disappeared. Still, that did little to hide the growing blush she had when Sumia giggled.

Her thoughts, unbidden, as silence overcame them again, went towards her team. She hadn't seen much of Blake in the three weeks that they had spent meeting all of the Shepherds, and if she had been honest, she wasn't sure what the Faunus was doing either. She had seen the black haired woman grabbing a book here and there, while also writing things down. More than once she had seen the Blake writing something down in a journal, before disappearing once again. She had been curious enough to ask Frederick, but the man had stated that he was unsure as well.

Yang, on the other hand, was in full swing of training herself the Frederick way. Weiss had heard horrors of Frederick's Fanatical Fitness Hour within the first couple of days she had stayed in the Barracks. It was nothing compared to how bad it actually was, and Yang took to it like a fish to water. Not only did the Blonde have the energy to get through all of the workout without much of a problem, she then proceeded to ask Frederick for a way to test her strength, and then lifted the man's armor covered horse!

Finally was Ruby. She had seen the Reaper the most out of the four, but even then, most of her time was taken up by trying to get a grip on her fighting style once again. Besides the balance of a Scythe being a problem, there was also the fact that the silver eyed woman was getting magic lessons from Mirel. So that was another thing that Ruby needed to integrate into her fighting style. It was also that same idea that had led to the other three to find out if they had magic potential.

Unsurprisingly, Yang had no potential at all. The Blonde took it in stride, saying that her fighting style was more Physical anyway and that she wasn't worried about it. Blake had a little potential as it turned out, but she could barely make a fire from a training Tome before she ran out of 'Mana' as Mirel called it. Ruby was the surprise, as she apparently had an extremely large amount of potential, to the point she started to train in it after all.

Weiss, herself, on the other hand, had about an average amount of potential. It would take a fair amount of training for her to be able to use magic in a fight, so it was with a grandiose sentence that Mirel had said for her to practice, but take up something else as to be able to fight in the meantime. This was another reason for her to try and see if she could ride a Pegasus. If she had enough talent for it, she might be able to actually be able to become one after all.

Breaking out of her thoughts for the time being, Weiss couldn't help but gape at the sight before her. High above in the sky were several Pegasus knights, all of which were doing maneuvers that were not too dissimilar to what she had seen Sumia doing before she had asked to try her hand at it in the first place. Still, she could see that one of the women had spotted them, a speck of blue, as it broke off from a group and headed in their direction faster then any Atlesian ship.

The Pegasus that the woman in question was riding on reared as it neared the ground, before softly landing on the ground, the majestic beast tossing its head a few times, before folding its wings inward, and setting itself into a slow gait, settling itself in front of the two. Moving off of its back, a stern eyed woman settled herself in front of them, her red eyes looking at the two with a raised eyebrow, though there was a warmness to them when she looked at Sumia.

"Sumia, it's good to see you. Might I ask who this is?" The woman asked, her arms going behind her back, her eyes trailing over towards Weiss.

Standing a bit straighter, Weiss gave a slight bow, her hand going onto her chest as she did so "I'm Weiss Schnee ma'am."

"So your one of the women I've been hearing about from her Grace." The woman said, a smile appearing on her face at slight reddening of Weiss' cheeks "I am Phila, captain of the Pegasus knights. Might I ask why you are here?"

Sumia chose this time to speak up "Weiss was interested in trying her hand at becoming a Pegasus knight."

"Is that so." Phila said with a raised brow towards the snowy haired woman. Weiss started to feel uncomfortable at the woman's staring, even as she knew that she was being sized up. The uncomfortable feeling wasn't there for very long, however, as Phila gave a smile and a single nod "Alright. If Sumia believes that you have the capability, then I will give you a chance to prove as such."

The acceptance wasn't something she expected to get so easily, but a quick glance towards Sumia showed that the grey haired woman was giving a soft smile. Turning back towards Phila, while also making a mental note to thank the Pegasus knight later, she let Phila lead her towards the Stables where she found several different Pegasi in their stables, either sleeping for the time being, or eating at hay that was left for them. Despite the smell that would always come from a stable, Weiss, couldn't help but stare at them.

"Beautiful aren't they?" Phila's voice sounded out, causing Weiss to jump slightly, a bit of heat going into her cheeks "It's alright. Most new recruits have the same starry eyed look when they first get an up close look of a Pegasi."

Swallowing a bit thickly as she looked over the beautiful creature in front of her, she gave a simple nod "I can see why. I've never seen anything like this before."

"Of course." Phila said with a nod, even as she placed a hand on the former Heiress' back, gaining her attention "Why don't you walk up to one of them and see how they react to you? Don't be afraid of them."

Looking towards the older woman, and Sumia, who was standing near the doorway giving her an encouraging smile, Weiss turned her attention towards one the Pegasi, seeing that the winged horse in question was staring at her. This one in particular had a fiery mane of red hair, the body being a soft chocolate brown color. There wasn't a single spot on this particular one either, but without conscious thought, Weiss' hand drifted towards the pegasi with a sort of reverence.

A single snort from the horse was all the warning that Weiss had before the mare in question bumped her hand with its nose. A startled gasp left the snowy haired woman at the feeling of the soft fur on the Pegasi's muzzle, before her hands curled up slightly, running gently up and down the beasts head. A whinny left the Pegasi after a moment, getting a slightly startled laugh to come out of Weiss, even as she slowly moved forward to place a hand on the Pegasi's neck, a smile appearing on Weiss' face the whole while.

A light laugh sounding out through the area caused the snowy haired woman's attention to shift, as she saw Phila staring at her with a slight smile, a nod leaving the Captain "Good. It seems that she took to you well at the very least. We should get her fitted with some gear, and then get you started on learning how to fly."

"Does she have a name?" Weiss asked after a moment, her blue eyes trailing back towards the Mare, whom gave another noise, this time of what seemed to be happiness, as she prodded the Ex-Heiress in the torso softly with her nose, earning a smile in response.

Sumia jumped in this time, Phila giving a nod towards the Grey haired woman as she left, likely to get gear "Most Pegasi don't have names until their Riders give them one. Once we're sure, you get to name her."

It didn't take a genius for Weiss to understand what Sumia meant by being sure. Phila was more then likely just humoring her due to Weiss being a part of the Shepherds, but whether she could actually ride on the pegasi's back was a completely different question altogether. Still, despite the chance that she could be denied her training, she couldn't deny the fact that she was extremely excited to try and learn. This was one of the few things she could say with certainty was her choice after all.

A headbutt to her torso once again caused Weiss' attention to shift towards the Mare once again, what seemed to be a disapproving huff coming from the Pegasi "What's that about?"

"Pegasi tend to be able to sense the emotions of those they bond with." Sumia said with a smile, her voice showing her happiness "I suppose it's not a matter of if you two will bond anymore. She's already chosen you it would seem."

Giving a startled look towards the Pegasi, Weiss' attention shifted towards Sumia once again "Wasn't that a little fast? I've just met her!"

"Sometimes that's all it takes." Came the simple reply, this time from a different, unfamiliar voice.

Turning towards the Source, Weiss had to raise an eyebrow at the redheaded woman that had walked into the room, a saddle in her arms. Her red hair was at a length that it stopped just below her knees, a pair of white winged clips in her hair, likely to keep the bangs back. She was adorned in similar armor to that of Sumia, though the coloring was red as well, but it was the eyes that were a similar shade to her that mainly caught Weiss' attention.

Off reflex, a scathing retort was on Weiss' lips, only to be cut off when Sumia spoke up first, pure joy in her tone "Cordelia! It's felt like ages since I last saw you!"

The woman, Cordelia as her name apparently was, just gave a smile back, "It's good to see you as well Sumia, but I need to start putting this on the Mare."

"Let me help." Weiss spoke up before she realized that she had spoken, still she took the momentum from the abrupt statement, and walked up to the redheaded woman "She's going to be my partner from now on, I should learn how to gear her up."

The stubborn willfulness that Weiss held in her voice seemed to be enough to startle the woman slightly, before a soft laugh left her, a nod not being to far after "Of course, how about we teach you then? Sumia has no Pegasi of her own quite yet, but she has been a great help when it comes to teach recruits how to set up the Tack, as well as securing the saddle."

A blush went up Sumia's face at the compliment, but she didn't deny it, her face showing something akin to begrudging acceptance. Weiss simply took it as Sumia having tried to deny it before, to no avail. Still, Weiss' stock of the redhead in front of her rose for the time being, even as she help said woman with the gear that her partner would need.

**Awakening of a Rose.**

It had taken longer than she would have admitted to set up the Tack correctly, but Weiss eventually did learn how to set it up to a degree. After the fact, Sumia had assured Weiss that she would help the Snowy haired woman out when she needed it, something she was grateful for. There was far too much for her to learn without a bit of repetition to it after all.

Taking a deep breath when she left the stables, the Mare that had claimed her following by the reigns that Weiss held, the snowy haired woman could feel the heat of Joy bubbling up in her chest once more, but she forced it down for the time being when she felt several eyes land on her. Phila, first and foremost, was looking at her with an appraising look, but there were a couple of other Recruits there as well if she were to base by the other women in the area having nervous looks.

Giving a simple nod towards Weiss for the time being, Phila put her hands behind her back as she started to walk in front of the recruits that were gathered "The lot of you are here to try and become Pegasus knights, the best of the best that Ylisse has to offer. I won't lie when I say that most who try, fail, as they are just not suited for the aerial combat that comes being a Pegasus knight. Some of you will be injured just from initiation alone, and that could spell you being cut from the program. Those of you that make it through this, however, will be trained to be the best of the best. So those of you who don't think they have what it takes, may leave now."

Her words had seemed to startle a few of the women that had been gathered, but none of them moved an inch. Weiss had heard worse from her teachers when she had begun her training to be a huntress if she was honest. Phila's words painted a grim picture as far as being a Pegasus knight, but it was an honest one.

It did little to sway anyone there however.

Giving a smile towards the lack of movement from the woman before her, Phila nodded before continuing "Good. Then let's get startled shall we?"

Weiss could feel her excitement starting to bubble up underneath her skin, even as she made sure to keep her outward appearance as neutral as it always had been. The carefully crafted mask she had made after dealing with her father for years coming out without her even trying really, though even then she could see the subtle smile that Phila sent her way. The knowing look that she had was all Weiss really needed to see to know that the woman had seen through her mask. Still, she didn't say anything, so the snowy haired woman took a guess that she simply wished to see what would happen.

The new recruits ended up being paired off with a more seasoned knight, likely to give them tips on how to fly with their partner. Surprisingly enough, however, she noticed that Sumia was helping a recruit with sitting on her Pegasus correctly, even if the grey haired woman didn't have one herself. Still, she had little time to worry about that, as her own 'instructor' was telling her how to sit on the Pegasus before her, a critical eye coming from the woman.

Weiss hug onto every word that was being said to her, adjusting her posture as was needed, and making sure to rub her Mare's neck every once in awhile as she was starting to get antsy. Still, she stood in place for Weiss after a few seconds, the former Heiress' legs in the stirrups on the side, and having the bar at the arch of her foot. Putting herself down a bit closer to the Pegasi's back, even as the mare started to take off in a trot, startling the knight that was helping her. Before she could even register what was happening, Weiss found her, and the mare up in the air, a shouting Pegasus knight running to her own partner to try and catch up.

Despite the situation, however, the bubbling excitement in her breast decided to break free now that she was in the air, and a yell of pure joy left her, even as she clung to her back while she spun in a circle in mid air. The adrenaline that went through her system at that was enough for Weiss' to let out a whoop of excitement, a Grin in place on her face.

Leaning with the pegasi as it turned, Weiss could see several recruits flying through the air, though none did what her's had with the spin in mid air. The Knight that was trying to teach her had a disgruntled look on her face as she caught up finally, but Weiss wasn't sorry at all. The feeling of freedom she had in the air at the moment, was something that she hadn't felt ever. Even managing to go to beacon, and meeting her team, couldn't compare to the sheer joy she felt.

She wouldn't trade this feeling for the world.

**Awakening of a Rose.**

Blake could feel the beginning of headache starting up, and that had little to due with the smell she had to deal with. Being in the Sewers, however, likely had that effect, even as she continued to run through the tunnels as fast as she could, though not for a reason she would have liked if she was being honest.

It all started with her conversation with Frederick three weeks ago if she was being honest. With the man that she had spotted on the rooftops, it was little wonder that she had asked about the state of information gathering by Ylisse as a whole. It was why when she heard that it was pretty much nonexistent, that she had the beginning of a headache that seemed to carry on to today.

At first it was just her watching most of the Shepherds, trying to gather what she could of them for whatever Future Tactician that Chrom decided to appoint to the Shepherds. It was a simple enough thing, even after learning of Weiss's hopes of becoming a pegasus knight, something that even Blake could tell was needed as far as the Shepherds were concerned. Writing down their skills, so that said Tactician could know what he/she was dealing with was a simple enough matter.

The not so simple matter came from Blake deciding to try her hand at creating an information network.

Honestly the Faunus didn't know _why_ she was bothering with this in the first place, but it was something that she decided to do, and she was sticking to her guns in this case as it where. She liked Chrom, Lissa, and even Emmeryn the few times they had spoken. She liked Ylisstol a lot more then she had literally any of the places she had lived, besides Menagerie if only because of the sheer Faunus presence of the island. In the three weeks she had lived here, however, she had not seen a single person be rude to her just because of her ears.

She had earned more than her fair share of looks when she was still a new presence in the city, but after awhile, she didn't garner as many looks as she used to. People that were rude to her were people that were just being rude, while people being nice to her, were very genuine about it. It wasn't something she was used to, and if she was honest, it left her with a warm feeling in her chest every time she felt it.

Which was why she was currently more than a little wary about the fact that she could be risking that with her little stunt right now.

Still, she ignored that for the time being as she jumped over a pile of refuse, and bounced off the wall near it to jump on top of the man that was running away from her. Almost right away her nose took note of a Familiar sweet smell on the man in front of her. Amber eyes trailed over the breast pocket the man had, a stick of some kind sticking out of it, but other than that, everything on the man seemed to as uniform as a thief could be.

"Hey now Kitty, is that any way to greet a guy?" The man spoke up, his voice betraying the nervousness about him, though he still had an easy going look to it, despite the place they were in.

Keeping a knife situated near his throat, Blake's golden eyes trailed around the area making sure there was no one else near, before she leaned down towards the man, her eyes narrowing "Who are you exactly? I thought I smelled you the first day I was in the city. That was you on that rooftop wasn't it?"

"You caught a whiff of me from that far away?" The man's voice sounded out with a hint of awe in it, even as his eyes trailed up towards her ears for a split second "The hell is your nose?"

Despite herself, a hint of amusement bled through Blake's voice at that statement "One of a kind. You didn't answer my question though."

"Should be kinda obvious Kitty. I'm a Thief, and I saw the prince himself in town. Ain't stupid enough to try and Rob him, but that didn't mean I couldn't spot other things." The man's voice spoke up, the waver in his voice disappearing at the moment at least "Thought I saw some sorta weird looking lamp on that younger girl's hip, but the Scythe she had on her made me have some second thoughts about trying to nab it."

Blake could give the man some credit at least. For a thief, he was a lot smarter about what he would try and steal then a lot of others in his position would have been. Honestly, with the way the guy looked, she guessed he was more of a 'Steal only what I need' type. Those types tended to aim for those that wouldn't miss what was stolen, so she didn't have to worry about him stealing from poor people at least.

Getting off of the man, a hand went out towards him to help him up. At his confused glance, Blake spoke with her normal monotone "My main reason for chasing you was to see if you were some kind of threat to Chrom and Ruby."

"Nah, I'm just a small time thief Kitty." The guy spoke with a smarmy look on his face that made a frown appear on the Faunus' face "Was there something else you wanted from me then so I can leave without you stabbing me?"

She really didn't have to think on it for very long for the question to leave her, her hand on the sword on her side just in case, but she decided to ask "You wouldn't happen to have any friends that would be willing to work would you?"

"Friends aren't exactly something you get a lot of being a Thief you know." The man's deadpan tone caused a slight wince to leave the black haired woman, but she could see a smirk appearing on the man's face nevertheless "Don't mean there aren't people you could find for it though. Why? You looking to build an assassin's guild or something?"

"Information network actually." Blake said with a simple tone, her eyes trailing to the side, eventually locking onto something with a hint of red near one of the turns not to far off "I'm going to need people that won't just stab me in the back after all."

The man in front of her took his eyes off of her as well, locking onto something just behind her, a smirk appearing on his face, even as he took out a lolipop of all things from his breast pocket, and nodded "I get it, and I might even be willing to help you for not just turning me in or killing me, later of course."

With the sound of the last word leaving his mouth, a sword sang as it left its sheath, blocking a sword that was a foot away from hitting the Faunus in the back. Blake in turn, had done the same thing with a man that was going to attack the person she had been speaking to. Her eyes locked onto the man in front of her, she still called back as she knocked the man backward "I'm Blake by the way."

"Gaius." Was all the man said before he dove after the man she knocked backwards.

Blake in turn dove towards the one that Gaius had intercepted, her sword flashing forward faster then the man could react to, the blade digging into his chest, and through the heart. A hint of nausea went through the Faunus' stomach, but she buried it for the time being, her sword colliding with another, the sound of metal echoing in the Sewer.

Ducking under another swing that a third thief made, her sword swung out hitting the one that swung in the arm, her foot connecting with the one she blocked in the stomach. The third thief was clutching at his arm, the large gash she had made causing the limb to go slack. A part of Blake felt disgust at herself for severing the tendon in the man's arm to make it so he couldn't use it. That disgust only lasted a few seconds as the Thief's good arm came up to try and strike her with a dagger her had, only for her sword to go through his throat after she dodged.

Her sword left the dying man quickly, as the last one took a swing at her once again, the sloppy attack being easy to move out of the way with. The single swing she used against him was as well. That did little to spot the shudder she felt as she looked over the aftermath of the fighting. Seven men were dead in the sewers at the moment, each of them wearing the attire of a thief, but there was nothing else on them that could be distinguished as to why they attacked.

Pushing the guilt to the side for the moment, she turned towards Gaius, to see the man kneeling over one of the bodies. A frown made its way onto her face at the sight, at least until the man stood up and held something in his hand. Frowning, she bent towards one of the others, and found a similar object on him, a small metal join of a sort, a simple three slashes on it.

"You find one of these coins on them to Kitty?" Gaius' voice sounded out behind her something got a nod in response "Gotta say then, Sorry about this. Seems like they were after me. Don't know what I did to piss em off, but I don't see why they'd be after you considering how new you are to this city."

A grimace made its way onto the Faunus' face at that statement, leading to her shaking her head "Maybe not. Your not the first person I asked about this, and considering I've been seen with the Prince of Ylisse, it might not be a stretch to say someone wasn't happy with me."

"Whichever it is, seems you dragged me into it since they saw me with you. I'm betting these weren't all of the guys either." Gaius spoke with a deep sigh leaving the man, though there didn't seem to be any regrets either "Gotta say though, it's more exciting then my normal stuff, but I wouldn't mind working with ya if you actually pay well enough."

Giving a suspicious look towards the Thief in front of her, she voiced what was likely an obvious question, but one she needed to know the answer to "Why would you help me?"

"Why not?" The ginger haired man said with a shrug, his smirk appearing once more "Sides, you coulda just ran after these guys showed up, but you actually stuck around. Not too many people who'd do that for someone they don't know. So, if your paying, I'll help you. Fair enough?"

She wasn't sure what to think of the man in front of her giving that as his reason for wanting to help out, but she supposed there was a bit of truth to the phrase 'Honor among thieves' in this case. Still, as much as she didn't want to admit it, she didn't know everything she could if she really wanted to start an information network. Gaius seemed to be a bit shady all things considered, but he also didn't seem to be lying.

"Alright." Blake said after a few seconds, her eyes closing for a second, before opening them and holding a hand out.

When Gaius grabbed her hand to shake on it, her only thoughts were on trying to make sure that everyone she cared about never went in blind if it came down to fighting, or war. She just hoped she didn't regret it.

**Awakening of a Rose.**

A shudder went down Blake's spine as she finally made it back to the Shepherds barracks, nausea overwhelming her as everything that happened today finally hit her. She ended up stumbling into the main room of the Barracks, completely ignoring the hand that touched her shoulder, as she went to the nearest door that led outside once again. Her hands barely managed to find purchase on a tree before everything that she had eaten decided now was the time to leave her stomach. The faunus wasn't sure how long she had been standing there if she was honest, but a voice speaking to her broke her out of her nausea induced haze.

"Are you alright dear?" The person in question, a woman by the sounds of it, her voice dainty, and with a hint of arrogance.

Turning towards the voice Blake found her looking at a young woman, her blond hair put up in two curls to the sides, white bows holding them up, as well as frill filled clothes covering her form. Blake took a few deep breaths, before nodding "As well as I can be."

"You look quite ill at the moment if you want my opinion." The woman spoke with a raised eyebrow, a slight smirk appearing on her face as well "Ah, but where are my manners! You must be one of the new Shepard's that my darling Lissa told me of, upon my arrival today!"

Blake looked like she was going to say something else, before the Nausea hit her once again. This time, however, it didn't manage to get much father before a slight green light surrounded her. Blake let out a gasp of surprise, her eyes trailing over towards the blonde woman, a staff in her hands, which the black haired woman hadn't noticed until now. The woman's smirk grew in such a way that honestly reminded the Faunus of Weiss when they first met. Still, the woman took the staff back a moment later, a soft look in her eye despite the smirk in place.

Giving a nod, the woman moved the staff away, even as she put her hands onto a new object, a parasol in this case "I am Lady Maribelle Themis. It is my pleasure to meet someone whom has taken care of Lissa in my absence."

"I'm… Blake Belladonna." Was the weak introduction, her voice slightly scratchy from the bile that had left her.

A nod left the woman, even as she tenderly grabbed Blake's arm "As nice as it is to finally meet you, we must get you to the infirmary. Even if it is something minor, we should check you for anything else."

Digging her heels into the ground slightly to stop the woman from dragging her along, Blake shook her head, her thoughts rushing while she spoke "I-i'm not sick. Its…"

"You had to kill someone, didn't you?" The woman's voice spoke up, the normal superior tone softening a fair amount as Maribelle spoke more of a statement than a question.

A slightly startled noise left the black haired woman at that statement, but she didn't deny it. That was all the reason that Maribelle needed evidently, before she moved the Faunus over towards a tree away from where she had vomited. The young Noble had disappeared back into the Barracks not to long after that, leaving Blake to her thoughts for the time being.

Her mind kept rushing back to what had happened in the Sewers, and after that, in fact. Even in her time with the White Fang, she had never killed someone like she had in that sewer. The White Fang that had died during the breach of Vale had been different, at least since she wasn't the direct cause, and even that took her awhile to get over. This, however, was a different matter, as she had killed someone directly, with her own hands.

Despite herself, she could feel her knees move up to her chest, her head resting on top of them, and her hands drifting to the top of her head. She stayed this way for what felt like an hour or more, at least until she heard some more footsteps heading her way. Lifting her head up, she ended up seeing a familiar cloak of red, before she ended up getting barreled into by the silver eyed girl, barely managing to uncurl herself.

"Blake! Are you alright? I ended up hearing for Maribelle that you threw up, and that you ended up needing to kill someone." While, normally the girls voice was in a constant speed up when she was worried, this time, Ruby's voice was steady and calm, her worry evident, but the comfort she was trying to bring there as well.

Letting a shaky breath, Blake let herself fall apart for the time being, her eyes trailing over Ruby's shoulder to see Maribelle just smiling. Blake tried her best to convey the gratitude she felt towards the noble woman, before she put her head into Ruby's shoulder. The two of them just stayed like this for the time being, until eventually, Ruby backed up a bit, her eyes looking Blake over with Worry.

With Ruby letting go, the Faunus curled in on herself once again, though the reaper made sure to have her keep eye contact while she started to speak "Blake? Whatever happened, I don't think anyone's angry at you."

"I-I know that Ruby, but I killed someone. Not indirectly, like during The Breach, but actually killing someone." The black haired woman said, her head falling onto her knees again "I was in the Sewers chasing after a Thief that I thought was familiar, or had stolen something, I can't remember, a-and after talking I was ambushed by 6 more."

A soft smile greeted her in response, when Ruby decided to speak up once again "You know, looking back on it, I think Uncle Qrow was subtly teaching me how to deal with killing someone. I wouldn't have noticed it before, as worried as I was about, well, everything. I, kinda sliced off a Scorpion Faunus' tail without hesitating?"

"You did?" Blake's startled voice sounded out, even the tone unfamiliar to her own ears. It was a shock after all, considering what that implied for Ruby.

Giving another nod, Ruby continued "I was talking to Frederick too, and when I told him about how my Uncle taught me, he seemed to agree with it too. That doesn't matter right now though. What matters Blake, is that you feel sad about it right?"

"It's not that Ruby." the soft response was followed by Blake curling in on herself once again "It just took one taken life for Adam to go down the path he did. What's to stop me from doing the same?"

And there it was, the real worry she had been dealing with the whole day. The fact that she actually killed someone had been running second seat to the one thought that she might end up becoming like Adam. He had been a good man, someone that Blake truly respected when she first joined the White Fang, but then she killed one human while 'Protecting' her father. It had been a downward spiral not to long after.

A hand landed on her shoulder cut off the train of thoughts Blake held, looking up towards Ruby, to see her shaking her head "The fact that your worried about that, means that you won't Blake! Your a good person, and everyone here has your back if you need it!"

Despite herself, Blake couldn't stop the slight laugh that went through her. That one little bit was all that was needed for the floodgates to open, her eyes watering, even as she started to laugh and cry at the same time. Ruby, for her part, just stayed close by, as a way to give comfort to the black haired woman, and that was it. She didn't say anything else, and while the lingering doubts were still there, and likely wouldn't go away anytime soon, the words still helped. Blake just needed to hear it from someone else.

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**Omake: Blake's barracks logbook- Entry3: Weiss Schnee.**

_Name: Weiss Schnee_

_Age: 20 (of time of Entry Added.) Unknown Birthday due to Weiss not answering when asked._

_Weiss Schnee, the Former Heiress to a company known as the Schnee Dust Company, something that is unknown to this world as a whole. Upon arriving in Ylisstol, she decided to try her hand at becoming a Pegasus knight, something that wouldn't take very long for the woman to accomplish. A spear or a sword are the types of weapons she can use well enough, though her pegasi, Blütenblatt, seems to have a preference of Weiss using a Spear while upon her back._

_Class: Pegasus Knight._

_Reclass: Cleric, Mage._

_Promotions: Dark Flier, Falcon Knight._

_Personal Analysis: After meeting with Mirel, it was found that Weiss has a fair amount of Magical potential, but it would take a bit of training for it to be usable in combat, and as such she focuses her time on other aspects of battle. Learning how to use Magic, however, would be good for her, as it would teach her to either attack from a distance, or lead to her learning how to heal, taking some of the workload off of Lissa, and Maribelle._

_Dark Flier would be the best option for Weiss as far as promotions go, as it would lead to her learning to fight with a tome, as well as her sword and spear, leading to have more utility in a fight. This doesn't discount the possibility of her other option of Falcon knight, as it would have her utilize staff's instead, this giving use a more mobile healer. Either option, no matter which she chooses, will benefit the army in the long run._

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**And there we are with Chapter 3 of this story. Honestly, the last bit of the chapter was killing me with how it refused to be written, and I'm not completely happy with it as a result, but I still hope that you all enjoyed it.**

**Thank you to everyone who followed and Favorited this story. I'd normally get specific with who did and who didn't, but with me being invited to a wedding, and helping to plan things out on top of that, I don't have as much time as I would like, and am Posting this in one of the Brief Windows of time I have as a result. PLEASE GIVE ME A REVIEW IF YOU WOULD KINDLY!.**


	4. Chapter 4

**So… Here we are with the fourth chapter of this story, almost half a year later. First off, i'm just going to say it outright, i'm sorry that this took so long, but life kept throwing me one punch after the next, and before I realized it, I was doing my best to try and get my life back on straight.**

**And then I ended up getting Covid. Two weeks of hell.**

**I'm not going to try and say anything to apologize for the months where I could have written, but with the disease going around, I can't say much more then, I just couldn't get up most of the time I was stuck with it. Thankfully I'm feeling much better now, and that's part of why I hunkered down, and started to write this next chapter out. And here we are. It's a little shorter than I was wanting it, but at the same time, I'm just happy with how it turned out in general.**

**Enough of my prattling though, here is the chapter 4, and you can be certain that I'm not going to abandon this story. So there's the answer to a couple of the PM's i've gotten as well as the review from RwbyZillaPrime20 ;).**

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_**I do not own RWBY or Fire Emblem: Awakening, so please support the official source of each.**_

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Yang was worried about her sister, and that was something that honestly made her feel a bit conflicted as well. She knew how Ruby was when it came to her own problems, and despite the constant offers of help from both her and their dad growing up, it did little to change that Ruby refused. So, the fact that Chrom and Frederick were trying to get Ruby to just _talk_ to someone as well worried the blonde brawler even more.

"I told you, _I'm fine_ Yang. Shouldn't you be training with Frederick anyway?" Was the only response that she ended up getting from her sister when she had asked last time.

Ruby had quickly ran off not too long after that, and for the life of her, the Blonde couldn't find her sister anywhere, and it was starting to piss her right off. The frustration she felt kept growing more and more she searched, up until she finally snapped when someone placed a hand on her shoulder. Turning on her heel, a fist flying towards the person, Yang barely registered the blue hair before she had sent Chrom flying across the field that she had been pacing in trying to calm down.

Lilac eyes widened in shock, before she quickly darted towards the Prince, who was wheezing slightly from the hit to his chest "Chrom! I'm so sorry, I just punched without thinking and-"

Despite the situation, a laugh left the Blue haired man as he shook his head "Man, if you can punch that hard without your gauntlets on, I'd hate to have been hit while you had them on your hands! Maybe you can show me how to throw a proper punch at some point!"

Yang just stared at the man she had punched for awhile, before a sort of rueful smile appeared on her face "I'll do that if we have the time, but I'm looking for my sister, have you seen her?"

"You're looking for Ruby as well?" The Blue haired man asked, a frown marring his face as he stood up with Yang's help "I had hoped that you knew where she was to be honest."

That response caused the Blonde woman to sigh in frustration, her arms crossing once she was sure Chrom wouldn't fall over anytime soon "She's been avoiding me ever since she came back from that Patrol you and her left on along with Weiss."

The blue haired Prince nodded towards that, though Yang's thoughts went towards the snowy haired woman, remembering how horrified Weiss had looked when she returned. It hadn't been pretty was all Weiss had been willing to share, before she had clammed up and refused to talk about it. Later the white haired woman had apparently talked to Emmeryn about the fact that she had killed more than a few men, but at least she had been willing to talk to someone.

Ruby had been avoiding everyone, and Yang knew why as well.

"She's going to break." Yang said, her eyes trailing towards the sky, even as she knew that Chrom was hanging onto her words "Ruby doesn't see the point in worrying about her own problems, and instead worries about everyone around her. I don't think she's even thinking about the fact that she's had to kill people."

A shudder left the blonde, as she looked towards her hands. She had killed a few people as well in her time here in Ylisstol, but every single life had been one of the many bandits that seemed to invade from Plegia by droves. It wasn't something she was willing to talk about to anyone yet, but at the same time, she had asked to be left out from any patrols for the time being as well. Frederick had been surprisingly understanding of the situation as well, as he had agreed, even while he took the battleaxe that Yang owned with him, keeping it out of her site for the time being.

A sigh left the Prince as one of his hands unconsciously clenched atop the pommel of his sword "I had gathered that from the first day we met to be honest. I had hoped to give all of you time to adjust before talking about that day, but one thing after another happened, and before I knew it, I was tasked with having a few of you join on patrols to gain experience. Fat lot of good that did now that you four are scarred from it."

"Don't go beating yourself up about it." Yang said, a smirk on her face, even as she placed a hand upon his shoulder "You might not be the Exalt, but you've got important stuff to do too you know? I… Think I might be ready to talk to someone soon if that means anything."

Giving a nod and a soft smile, Chrom let Yang's hand drop from his shoulder, even as he stood directly in front of her for the moment "I suppose the only thing now is to try and recruit help to corner Ruby."

"We're finally doing something about her then?" A monotone voice spoke up from not too far away, causing the two to look up, seeing Blake, a book in her hand, sitting in the tree they had been standing by.

Despite herself, Yang couldn't help but let out a laugh, even as she put her hands on her hips "How long ya been up there Blake?"

"Few Hours. Lost count." The black haired woman spoke, a soft smirk appearing on her face, even as her Amber eyes trailed over towards the two "Heard everything you two said. Should tell Frederick that you Punched Chrom though, make him work you harder."

Yang could practically feel the blood leaving her face, her hands clasping together, her knees connecting with ground in a way that made no mistake that the blonde was Groveling "Anything but that Blake! I can barely handle him going easy on me!"

"Oh grow up, you enjoyed the exercise until both he and Sully started to knock you flat!" Came another familiar voice, this one belonging to Weiss, the white haired woman having Sumia and, Surprisingly, Maribelle following along.

A haughty smirk appeared on the noble woman's face, though at this point everyone was used to it, as she spoke up as well, "To be honest dear, you do ask for it with how enthusiastic you are to his training."

"Doesn't mean I want it to get any worse." Yang grumbled, though she stumbled when a hand slammed into her back, the Blonde woman turning around to find Vaike standing there, a large grin on his face.

Giving a loud laugh, the blonde fighter crossed his arms, eyes glinting with cheer "Glad you're just having fun with the training too! You're the Vaike's best student after all!"

Yang could feel a headache starting to form as she realized that all of the Shepherds were starting to gather in the training grounds. She could see Sully and Frederick walk into the area not too long after Vaike had said his part, while Blake, who had jumped out of the tree, had walked up to Maribelle. Lissa had appeared out of nowhere, and was talking to the two, as well as Sumia, about different books, while Stahl was near Sully, grumbling about something or the other with food. Even Kellam, who seemed to disappear at times, was around, though she had a hard time keeping track of him, Mirel seemingly trying to track him down the whole time.

"Well, seems that everyone's here." Chrom spoke with a smile that didn't reach his eyes "Everyone but Ruby that is. Hows about we fix that?"

A shocked look appeared on the Blondes face for a moment, before tears started to leak out of her eyes. Holding them back, even as she wiped away what had appeared, the blonde nodded, her expression taking on a more serious tone "Thank you Chrom."

"Don't thank me until this actually works." The Prince spoke with a simple nod "I can't imagine how I would feel if this was either of my sisters."

Yang could appreciate the sentiment at the very least. She still wasn't used to the large support network that was the Shepherds as a whole. It was a good feeling though. Before she had only had her uncle, and her father as far as support went. A hint of longing went through her at the thought of her Uncle and her father, but she forced it down for the time being. The more immediate concern was her sister at the moment.

Clapping loudly to gain everyone's attention, Chrom crossed his arms as he spoke to the group in front of him "So, it's come to my attention that Ruby is actively avoiding any of us helping her. I'm sure all of us know just how bad that is, so we need to fix that."

"I want to be the one to talk to her about this." Yang spoke up, her eyes set with determination.

Giving a nod, Chrom turned towards the rest of the Shepherds "With that in mind, we need to corner Ruby, and give her and Yang some time to talk. I will be the first to admit that I'm not the best at planning, so if any of you have any ideas, please let me hear them."

"Perhaps I could help then." A calm voice spoke up, causing everyone to turn, half of them in shock.

Standing at the entrance of the training yard was Emmeryn of all people, Phila not too far behind her as they made their way further into the yard. Lissa let a happy noise leave her at the sight of her older sister, but it was Chrom who spoke first "Sister, what brings you here?"

Despite the question, Chrom couldn't help the smile on his face at the sight of his older sister. Emmeryn for her part, simply gave a soft look towards her brother, before turning her attention towards Yang "I know that you would prefer to be the one to talk to your sister Yang, but may i trouble you to allow me to do so in your stead?"

Right away Yang's face showed how conflicted she was. The part of her that felt responsible for her sister, didn't want anyone else to help, but rationality broke through that. Letting a sigh leave her, she looked up to see that both Chrom and Emmeryn were waiting on her word before deciding anything. The sight alone made it so that she felt a warmth in her chest she usually only had when dealing with family.

Smiling at the two, she nodded "Alright. We still need to figure out a way to get her to actually talk to you though."

"Then how about we start planning." Emmeryn spoke, a glint of mischief in her eyes as she looked towards all of the Shepherds.

Despite the situation, Yang couldn't help the Grin from appearing on her face at that.

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**Awakening of a Rose.**

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Emmeryn had been considered many things over the years as her times as Exalt. Good and bad things both. She had done her best to make sure that her siblings had never to deal with the bad, but even now she knew there were those in the shadows who spoke of her in a bad light. Her pacifism wasn't something everyone agreed with after all.

Still, that wasn't something she needed to think about for the moment. All she needed to do at the moment was sit and wait. The plan that the Shepherds had been given was to lead Ruby to the room she resided in. It was that reason alone she was sitting alone in her bedchambers, a pot of tea near her even as she waited. There was some sweets alongside the tea, as it had not taken long for Ruby to be a part of the shepherds for most of the castle to know her love of sweets.

The sound of the door opening, along with someone being pushed inside was enough for Emmeryn to break her train of thought for the time being, seeing the woman that had occupied her thoughts stumbling slightly into the room. Almost as soon as she had entered the room, the Scythe wielder had tried to turn around and open the door, only to struggle due to the doors not budging.

"Those doors have been reinforced in the off chance someone were to try and kill me." Emmeryn spoke, her soft tone warm, but it was still enough for Ruby to freeze at her speaking.

A nervous laugh left the woman in front of her, as Ruby turned around and raised a hand "E-emmeryn! It's nice to see you! It's been awhile!"

"It has, hasn't it?" She spoke, her smile not dropping for a moment, even as she motioned in front of her, the tea upon the table along with the sweets, and another chair on the other side "I would talk with you, please, sit down."

Despite how warm her tone was, Emmeryn wasn't asking. It was thankful that Ruby took the hint of that, and sat down across from the Exalt. With the woman in front of her, Emmeryn could see the bags that were under her eyes, eyes that normally glowed a silver with happiness. Now, however, those same eyes had a slightly dull-ish sheen to them, something she unfortunately knew what meant. She had eyes like that at a time.

Still, she forced those thoughts aside for the moment, her hands already reaching for the pot, politely ignoring the flinch the clinking of dishware against dishware left Ruby "How have you been Ruby? I confess that I do not know if you like tea or not, but I do have sweets should you wish."

"It's kinda hard not to get a taste for it, living with Weiss for so long." Ruby dryly stated, a slight amount of life entering her eyes at the statement, something that quickly fled, however.

Giving a small nod, Emmeryn finished pouring the cup, before placing it in front of the silver eyed woman "That is a fair statement all things considered. That does not, however, answer my first question."

The statement caused another minute flinch to leave the woman, something that Emmeryn did not ignore this time. A single raised eyebrow was all she gave, but was enough that the Exalt could tell that anger was starting to build in Ruby's form. The defensive anger that comes from trying to push something aside.

"I keep telling everyone, I am fine! Why can't anyone understand that?!" The words weren't quite yelled, but they were still loud enough, that Emmeryn dropped her polite pretense.

Folding her hands in front of her, she stopped brewing her own tea as she stared Ruby down with all of the presence she was known for in meetings "Because everyone around you can see that you are not. When was the last time you slept. I mean that with, when was the last time you had any decent rest that was more than a few hours?"

"What does that-" Ruby started only to be cut off.

"What about the last time that you let your body rest instead of driving yourself into the ground?"

"I haven't-"

"Then, what of the last time you had anything proper to eat other than a few bites of something the cooks make." Emmeryn continued without stopping, her tone even as she threw one thing after the other towards Ruby, "Or, when was the last time you had actually talked to someone after a miss-"

"STOP!" Ruby all but screamed, cutting her off "I don't need help! I don't want help!"

An even stare greeted Ruby at that statement, as Emmeryn stood up to meet the other woman's stare "Then what good are you to your team?"

The sharp intake of breath that left Ruby at that statement, caused emmeryn to gently set her tea cup down as she placed her hands upon her lap. "You can hardly notice it, but you are starting to wear yourself down Ruby. You do not have as much energy as I remember from when we first met, and you do not have the reflexes I remember either for that matter. Whether you wish for it or not, you must take into account the fact that you are grinding yourself down, and if you keep this up, then you may very well lose your life as a result.

The exalt was pleased to start to see her words sinking in, though she knew that this would not be the end result that she had hoped for, at least not yet. Ruby was still young, and as she could very well attest to, the young were often foolhardy, and believed themselves to know how the world worked. She saw less of that in Ruby then she had expected, but it was still there.

Giving a soft sigh, Emmeryn gently reached over the small table and grabbed one of Ruby's hands, the woman's eyes trailing up as a result "I hope you realize that if you do not want to talk to any of the Shepherds, I will be willing to lend an ear."

There was a slight bit of worry that cropped up within her breast when Ruby stayed silent for awhile, but it disappeared when the woman gave a soft nod, before she started to speak. Just, speaking random words, that had no rhyme or reason. Things about her father, things about her uncle, her mother, her sister, anything that she could think of. The whole time, Emmeryn listened with a soft smile, interjecting periodically to ask a question about something.

It was how the Exalt learned about the world of Remnant, both the wonders, and the horrors. It was a lot to take in, more than she realistically could remember, but that wasn't the point. She was just happy that Ruby was finally willing to talk to someone. In turn, Emmeryn felt that she was in turn creating a bond with someone so that she, herself, could confess her worries. It was a nice feeling to be honest.

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**Awakening of a Rose.**

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Ruby hadn't felt this calm in awhile. It was a bitter pill to swallow that she was running herself into the ground, but she had taken it with her talk with Emmeryn. It wasn't willingly, and it was still hard to just be laying in her bed resting at the moment, but after her talk with the Exalt, that was exactly what she was forced into doing. Her protests, no matter how weak they were, fell upon deaf ears when Ermmeryn practically marched her into her room at the Shepherds Barracks with a stern look deterring anyone from talking to her.

So here she was, just staring up at her ceiling while trying to keep herself rested for the first time in as long as she could remember. Still, Ruby couldn't shake the feeling of shame that went through her when she saw the clearly worried expressions that the Shepherds had towards her on her way through.

Letting a sigh leave her, Ruby rolled her head to the side, her eyes landing upon the familiar golden shape of the Lamp of Knowledge. To be honest, she had forgotten about it for a while considering everything that had happened the last… She was going to go with a month, but she was probably wrong. Time wasn't exactly something she had kept track of after all.

Sitting up slowly, Ruby grabbed the lamp and put it in her lap. It seemed to shine slightly at the touch, though she could have been imaging it for all she knew. Still, a part of her couldn't help but stand up and go to the center of her room. She wasn't even sure if Jinn's lamp still worked in a different world, but there wasn't anything to lose by at least trying.

"Jinn." The name left her before she could really think on it further.

Silence went through the room for what felt like forever, but nothing happened, a sigh leaving Ruby as a result. Somehow, she knew that it wasn't going to work, but she had wanted to make sure. At this point, though, she would say that the lamp wasn't worth anything but the gold it was made out of, but even that might not be true.

Placing the Lamp back onto the end table that was near her bed once again. Once again this left her staring up at the ceiling, the thought of her needing to rest in her mind. She had an urge to at least go out to the training yard to get rid of some of the energy she still felt she had, but the words that Emmeryn had spoken to her kept her from moving. Still, a part of her couldn't help but wish that it hadn't come to this, and that she was still out there, doing something at the very least.

Before she had really even registered it, her eyes had slowly started to close, her breathing slowing as well to show that she had well and truly fallen asleep.

It was when she woke up the next morning that she realized just how refreshed she finally felt. It was a feeling that she wasn't used to after however long she had been pushing herself. Still, she knew she still wasn't at a hundred. That didn't stop her from going out of her room, however, and into a pair of trousers and a simple cotton shirt. Adding a simple pair of boots to it as well, and off she went to a run to wake her up at the very least.

A half hour later, after she had at the very least warmed herself up, she ended up walking into the mess hall that the Shepherds barracks had. As soon as the door opened, a small part of her wanted to try and bolt into her room to avoid the confrontation she knew was coming, but instead she just took a deep breath, and grabbed a plate alongside Chrom, who was with his Shepherd's instead of the palace today.

As soon as the clink of her plate as she set it on the table in front of her to grab what she could for food sounded out, the Prince's attention shifted to her. Though instead of the surprise she expected from him, he simply gave her a smile, and nodded, while grabbing his own food in turn. A small smile made its way onto Ruby's face at the fact that Chrom wasn't making a big deal out of what happened yesterday.

Still, as soon as the two of them were sitting down with what food they could, Ruby going for what few fruits they had as well as some of the oatmeal they had, Chrom spoke up "It's good to see you looking rested for once Ruby. I will admit to being worried when you were not letting yourself rest."

"Well, I'm sorry for making you worry like that." Ruby spoke after she swallowed a slice of an apple that she had on her plate "Still, your sister has a way with words, and she made sure to get it into my thick head."

The joke was received well, thankfully, as Chrom gave a nod, a smile on his face as well "Whatever the case, I'm sure all of us are glad that you're finally letting yourself rest. It would be a shame if you ended up making a mistake from tiredness."

Ruby couldn't hold back the tiny flinch at those words, but thankfully Chrom didn't say anything about it. Dense though the man could be at times, he at the very least was good with a person's body language. She supposed it was part of the reason the man was one of the greatest swordsmen that Ylisse had at the moment. It was something that left her reminding herself that she needed to start practicing with her scythe more, like Yang did with the axe that she had now.

The sound of footsteps caught Ruby's attention, causing her silver eyes to shift over towards them, seeing Blake walking towards them. The woman's leather armor raised an eyebrow considering the situation, but that question was answered quickly as she spoke up "Were ready to go when you are Chrom. I'm still not sure if its a good idea to leave so many people behind though."

"Nonsense, it's a simple patrol of the countryside." Chrom spoke with an even tone, though it quickly changed when he spoke up again "And while i'm all for as much protection as possible for the people, some of the Shepherds are needed elsewhere. Thus why it is just the 5 of us."

A quick good natured roll of her eyes was what Blake gave in response, before she shifted her attention to Ruby "It's good to see that you're rested Ruby. We were worried."

"Sorry for worrying you so much." Was the simple response.

No more words were really said between the two, because while Ruby wanted to have more of a conversation with her teammate, but the Patrol she was going to leave on was enough to leave her with words caught in her throat. A hand touching her shoulder caused her to shift her attention towards Chrom, who gave her a smile "It'll be fine, I will make sure that nothing happens. Trust me."

Swallowing thickly, her nerves, and above all, her worry starting to get to her, Ruby just nodded, the words refusing to come out even as she wanted to thank Chrom. She was thankful that he seemed to understand without her saying anything, even as he took his hand back, and got onto his feet. With a simple wave from the two, both Blake and Chrom walked out of the door.

Despite everything though, Ruby couldn't help but feel like she was watching them pathing a path forward, the rest of the Shepherds appearing alongside the two. It was that alone that finally had Ruby's resolve harden, and an internal promise to make sure this didn't happen again settled within her. She wasn't going to let herself get caught up in trying to do everything by herself again. Not ever

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**Omake: Blake's Barracks logbook- Entry 4: Blake Belladonna (Personal Assessment.)**

_Name: Blake Belladonna_

_Age: 20 (as of time of this entry) _

_Blake Belladonna (me in this case), a former member of a freedom fighting activist group, turned terrorist group known as the White Fang. Due to stealth already being within her kit, training to be a thief was suggested by Frederick, and as such she became the unofficial scout of the Shepherds. A cat Faunus (please ask if you want more information), which also gives traits of night vision, and better hearing also helps for making her a scout._

_Class: Thief _

_Reclass: Myrmidon, Archer._

_Promotions: Assassin, Swordmaster_

_Personal Analysis: My personal assessment of my own abilities has me becoming an assassin, or a swordmaster at the end of my basic training, but that does not mean I couldn't change if needed. The heavy handed training that a Myrmidon could be a benefit if taught correctly, but at the same time, the training of a swordmaster could be something I could use as well if done correctly. I'm at your disposal, however, and you can answer how best to use my abilities, Tactician._

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**Well, there we are I suppose. The fourth chapter of this story, and I'm certain that most of you know where the next chapter is probably going to lead to, but I'm not going to say anything simply because even minor spoilers aren't something I want. With this though, it means that the next story i'm going to update is Melody of a lost World. While I would at the very least appreciate it if you took a gander at it, i'm not going to really say much else.**

**Until next time!**


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